Meeting of IPA CIS Council Took Place in Tavricheskiy Palace
25 November 2021
On 25 November 2021, the meeting of the IPA CIS Council took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters via videoconferencing.
Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko opened the event. At the beginning of the meeting, she was unanimously re-elected as the Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council. Thanking the colleagues for their trust, Valentina Matvienko stressed the importance of inter-parliamentary interaction. She noted the growing role of the Interparliamentary Assembly in the world and the attention that international organizations – not only inter-parliamentary ones, but also the United Nations, and the World Health Organization, and many others – are giving to the Assembly.
The meeting was attended in person by the heads of parliamentary delegations to the Assembly: Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Alen Simonyan, Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Shakirov, Deputy Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Aida Kasymalieva, Chair of the Standing Committee of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on Agriculture and Food Industry Vladimir Bolea, Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Sergey Neverov and Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva.
Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova, Chairperson of the Committee of the Mazhilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security Aigul Kuspan, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Igor Grosu and Speaker of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Rustami Emomali took part in the meeting via videoconferencing.
The meeting participants were briefed on the decisions of the Council of CIS Heads of State from 15 October 2021 and the Council of CIS Heads of Government from 12 November 2021, which were presented by Chairman of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev. Speaking about the important documents considered at these meetings, Sergey Lebedev highlighted the joint statement of the heads of state in connection with the 30th anniversary of the Commonwealth.
Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova presented the information on the chairmanship of the Republic of Belarus in the Commonwealth of Independent States. According to her, despite certain restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, almost all planned activities were carried out.
Furthermore, the MPs discussed the results of monitoring electoral campaigns across the Commonwealth: early elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on 20 June 2021; early elections to the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova on 11 July 2021; elections to the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation on 19 September 2021 and elections of the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan on 24 October 2021. Reports on the activities of the observer teams were made by their coordinators: Chair of the Standing Commission of the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on Industry, Fuel-Energy Complex, Transport and Communications Igor Komarovsky, Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy, Deputy Speaker of the Senate of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Askar Shakirov and First Deputy Speaker of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Vatanzoda Mahmadali.
It was recognized that these electoral campaigns were held in accordance with national legislations and international standards for the conduct of democratic elections.
Deputy Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat – Director of the International Institute for Monitoring Democracy Development, Parliamentarianism and Suffrage Protection of Citizens of IPA CIS Member Nations Ivan Mushket reported on readiness to observe the elections to the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, scheduled for 28 November 2021.
Furthermore, the meeting participants heard reports on the results of the events held by the Assembly in 2021. Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Agriculture and Food Policy and Environmental Management Alexey Mayorov spoke about the results of the Ninth Nevsky International Ecological Congress. First Deputy Chair of the Committee of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on the Budget and Financial Markets Yelena Perminova presented the report on the Third Eurasian Women’s Forum. Deputy Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council – Plenipotentiary Representative of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Nurbek Satvaldiev informed the meeting participants about the results of the Sixth International Cultural and Educational Forum “Children of the Commonwealth”.
The MPs noted the high level of the events held by the Interparliamentary Assembly and thanked the organizers for the opportunity to present their ideas at the IPA CIS headquarters and exchange experience on various issues.
In addition, the Council members discussed the preparations for the World Conference on Intercultural and Interreligious Dialogue. Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Konstantin Kosachev reported on this issue.
During the meeting, the Council members also approved the chairs of the IPA CIS permanent commissions and adopted the draft agenda of the 53rd Plenary Session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and work plan of the organization for 2022. Secretary General of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy presented the reports on these issues.
The meeting ended with a solemn part: Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva was awarded the IPA CIS medal for Strengthening Parliamentary Cooperation.
