Jubilee 50th Plenary Session of CIS Interparliamentary Assembly Took Place in Tavricheskiy Palace
22 November 2019
The 50th plenary session of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly took place in the Tavricheskiy Palace – the IPA CIS headquarters.
The heads of the following IPA CIS parliamentary delegations participated in the event: Speaker of the Milli Mejlis of the Azerbaijan Republic Ogtay Asadov, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan, Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus, member of the IPA CIS Council Mikhail Myasnikovich, Speaker of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin, 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, Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii, Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko, First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov, Speaker of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloev, First Deputy Speaker of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Abdudzhabbor Azizi and Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva.
The plenary session also brought together the MPs from across the CIS, the representatives of the CIS Executive Committee, the partner international organizations, the diplomatic corps, heads of executive and legislative authorities of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region.
Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko opened the meeting and stressed the importance of the continuity of values of the parliamentary cooperation, the commitment to ensure development of legal framework and harmonization of the legislation of the CIS Member Nations.
Vice Governor of St. Petersburg – Head of the Administration of St. Petersburg Lubov Sovershaeva addressed the participants with a welcoming speech. She noted the contribution made by the IPA CIS to the strengthening of the Eurasian integration processes and highlighted the relevance of cooperation in the field of tourism.
Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Kyrgyz Republic from 1990 to 1994 Medetkan Sherimkulov told in his welcoming remarks about the very first plenary session of the IPA CIS, which was held in Bishkek. He warmly welcomed that the organization not only continued its work, but also had been improving and developing over the years.
Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovich noted that over the past years the Assembly had become a credible international organization and an important platform for developing and strengthening cooperation between the CIS Member Nations. He also came up with some ideas for the further efforts, including the stepping up its work in the field of youth policy.
Speaker of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin also mentioned that the jubilee plenary session outlined new areas for parliamentary cooperation, which is highly relevant in the face of the challenges faced by the countries of the Commonwealth.
Deputy Speaker of the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic Aida Kasymalieva highlighted achievements in the peacekeeping activities, including the Bishkek Protocol signed in 1994 on the initiative of the IPA CIS, the Jogorku Kenesh of the Kyrgyz Republic, the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation.
Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii pointed out that, contrary to pessimistic predictions, the Commonwealth of Independent States continued to move forward steadily. She expressed the intention of the MPs of the Republic of Moldova to step up the cooperation within the CIS framework and the IPA CIS in particular.
First Deputy Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ivan Melnikov reminded in his welcoming speech that the next year the CIS Member Nations would celebrate the 75th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. He noted the increased attempts to falsify history, to revise the outcomes of the Second World War and to justify the ideology of Nazism. He believes that the parliamentarians can and must raise their voice in order to counter that dangerous and growing trend.
Speaker of the Majlisi Milli of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Makhmadsaid Ubaidulloev stressed the increasing role of the IPA CIS in the developing of legislation, particularly in the field of countering terrorism and organized crime. He commended the international and congress activity of the IPA CIS, mentioning the high relevance of the issues discussed at the global forums held on the initiative of the Assembly. He also noted that the establishment of the International Day of Parliamentarism had been initiated by the organization.
Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva highlighted the importance of her country’s accession to the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly and noted the increased and multifaceted effective cooperation with the countries of the Commonwealth, including through the parliamentary dialogue.
The 50th plenary session of the IPA CIS also featured the welcoming addresses by Chairman of the Executive Committee – Executive Secretary of the CIS Sergey Lebedev, Coordinator of the Youth Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (YIPA CIS), Member of the Committee of the Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan on Science, Education, Culture and Youth Policy Kiyomiddin Miraliyon, Speaker of the Wolesi Jirga of the National Assembly of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan Mir Rahman Rahmani and Vice President of the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference Pyry Niemi.
The plenary session discussed and adopted 11 model laws prepared by the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions. These were the model laws drafted by the PC on Legal Issues (model laws on Asset Management and Trust, on Law of Obligations, on Regulatory Legal Acts and on Advertisement), those prepared by the PC on Agrarian Policy, Natural Resources and Ecology (model laws on Assessment of Environmental Damage and on Ecotourism and the Recommendations on the Organization of National Centers of Environmental Safety), those submitted by the PC on Practices of State-Building and Local Government (the Recommendations on the Improvement of the Legislation on the Status of CIS Members of Parliament and the model law on Common Principles of Dividing Property of the State, its Subjects and Municipal Districts) and those developed by the PC on Culture, Information, Tourism and Sport (model laws on Social Tourism and on Digital Notarial Procedures in the Course of Cross-Border Information Exchange).
Thus, the total amount of the documents adopted by the IPA CIS has reached 569. The above-mentioned model laws were taken through the proper alignment procedures and will be sent to the parliaments of the IPA CIS Member Nations for use in national law-making.
In conclusion, Secretary General – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy presented the Long-Term Plan of Model Law-Making of the CIS for 2020-2022.The 50th plenary session of the IPA CIS concluded with the awarding ceremony. National poet of Tajikistan, playwright, screenwriter, laureate of the State Prize in Literature of the Republic of Tajikistan Muhammad Goib was awarded with the IPA CIS Chingiz Aitmatov Prize in Literature. The other IPA CIS awards and letters of appreciation were given to several members of the Assembly and the IPA CIS Council Secretariat staff members.
