MPs Defined CIS Model Law-Making Plan for Next Three Years at IPA CIS Council Meeting

On 21 May, a meeting of the IPA CIS Council was held at the Tavricheskiy Palace in St. Petersburg under the chairmanship of Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council Valentina Matvienko.

The meeting was attended by heads of parliamentary delegations: Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova, Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Maulen Ashimbayev, Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Marlen Mamataliev, Speaker of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Fayzali Idizoda, Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva and Chairperson of the Mejlis of Turkmenistan Dunyagozel Gulmanova.

The Council meeting was also attended by Vice President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Hakob Arshakyan, Chair of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Issues of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Contacts with Fellow Countryman Leonid Kalashnikov, Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy and Deputy Secretary General of the CIS Nurlan Seitimov.

Following a proposal by the national leader of the Turkmen people, Chair of the Halk Maslahaty of Turkmenistan Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow, voiced by Valentina Matvienko and approved by the Council members, the autumn session of the Assembly will be held in Turkmenistan.

The parliamentarians discussed the results of the early elections of members of the Jogorku Kenesh of Kyrgyzstan.

Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ziyafet Asgarov, who coordinated the work of the IPA CIS observer group, presented a report on the monitoring of the republican referendum on the adoption of the new Constitution of the Republic of Kazakhstan.

Maulen Ashimbayev noted that the presence of the IPA CIS delegation as international observers had been of great importance and had further underscored the transparency of the process. He expressed hope that Assembly observers would also participate in monitoring the upcoming elections to the Kurultai of the Republic of Kazakhstan scheduled for August this year.

Sahiba Gafarova stressed that the work of observers in the CIS countries demonstrates solidarity and mutual support. She congratulated her Kazakh colleagues on the successful conduct of the referendum.

It was recognized that the electoral campaigns had been conducted with respect for the rights and freedoms of all participants in the electoral process and were in line with universally recognized democratic principles and standards for organizing and conducting free and fair elections.

Dmitriy Kobitskiy informed the parliamentarians about preparations for international observation of the parliamentary elections in Armenia scheduled for 7 June 2026.

The meeting approved the chairpersons of the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions. Member of the Standing Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on Regional and Eurasian Integration Aleksey Sandykov was elected Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions on Economy and Finance, while member of the Committee of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic on Finance, Budget, Entrepreneurship, and Competition Development Daniyar Tolonov was elected Chair of the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions on Budget Oversight.

Chair of the IPA CIS Expert Advisory Board on Ecology and Environmental Management, Vice-President of the Russian Academy of Sciences Stepan Kalmykov presented a report on the work of the Advisory Board.

The speakers were also presented with the results of IPA CIS events dedicated to the 80^th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945.
The central event was the IPA CIS Grand session held on 18 April 2025 at the Tavricheskiy Palace.

The Council members approved the Long-Term Plan for Model Law-Making in the Common-wealth of Independent States for 2026–2028.

MPs are expected to draft more than 130 model laws and recommendations in the fields of humanitarian and cross-border cooperation, countering extremism and terrorism, economy, finance, social policy, ecology, environmental management, tourism and other areas.

Valentina Matvienko emphasized that scholars, experts, MPs participate in drafting model laws, and that the documents themselves are the result of collective work taking into account the national interests and traditions of each country.

The meeting also reviewed the results of the IPA CIS activities in 2025.

The IPA CIS Council established the Lyudmila Verbitskaya Award in honor of the outstanding linguist and public figure Lyudmila Verbitskaya. The prize will be awarded for a significant contribution to the development, support and promotion of the Russian language, as well as to strengthening humanitarian and integration dialogue at the international level.

Potential nominees include teachers, scholars, organizers of science and education, political figures, representatives of creative professions, promoters of the Russian language and media professionals whose activities contribute to strengthening the position of the Russian language globally.

The IPA CIS Council awarded the Chingiz Aitmatov Prize to national writer and honored cultural figure of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Cherginets.

By decision of the Council, new IPA CIS awards will be introduced: the honorary badges “For Merit in Healthcare Development” and “For Merit in Science and Education Development”, as well as the commemorative badge “IPA CIS. 35 Years”.