Meeting of IPA CIS Council Takes Place in Tavricheskiy Palace

The meeting brought together the heads of parliamentary delegations of the IPA CIS: 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 Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Mikhail Myasnikovitch, 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, Speaker of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin, 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.

Commencing the meeting, Valentina Matvienko welcomed colleagues, who took part in the meeting of the IPA CIS Council for the first time, after parliamentary elections in their countries - Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova Zinaida Greceanii and Speaker of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva. Chairperson of the IPA CIS Council welcomed the increase of the representation of women in politics across the CIS.

The Council meeting focused on of the issue of the fiftieth plenary session of the IPA CIS scheduled for 22 November. The Council members examined the draft agenda, submitted by Secretary General – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy and approved the list of issues included in it.

Chairman of the Executive Committee – CIS Executive Secretary Sergey Lebedev informed the Commission on the results of the decisions of the Council of CIS Heads of State on 11 October 2019 and the Council of CIS Heads of Government on 25 October 2019. Sergey Lebedev also briefed the members of the Council on the progress of updating the provisions of the Concept of Further Development of the Commonwealth of Independent States and on the draft Strategy of the CIS Economic Development until 2030.

The Council meeting also discussed the organization of election observation in the CIS Member Nations. Coordinator of the IPA CIS Observer Team, Deputy Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Ilyas Umakhanov reported on the participation of the IPA CIS international observers in the monitoring of the special elections of the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan on 9 June 2019. Speaker of the Majilis of the Parliament of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nurlan Nigmatulin commended the quality of the monitoring. First Deputy Speaker Majlisi namoyandagon of the Majlisi Oli of the Republic of Tajikistan Abdudzhabbor Azizi reported on the work of the IPA CIS Observer Team in monitoring the elections to the House of Representatives of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus on 17 November 2019.

Acting Director of the IIMDD IPA CIS Ekaterina Goloulina informed the Council members on the progress of preparation for monitoring the election to the Legislative Chamber of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan on 22 December 2019. Secretary General – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy presented the IPA CIS plans for the elections monitoring across the CIS scheduled for 2020.

In the run-up to the 75^th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the Council members discussed the preparation of relevant celebration activities. The Council meeting also adopted the Long-Term Plan for Model Law-Making in the Commonwealth of Independent States for 2020–2022, presented by Secretary General – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy.

Moreover, the Council members discussed the results of major events held by the IPA CIS for the period since the previous Council meeting and considered the Review of Legislation in the Field of HIV/AIDS and Migration in the CIS Member Nations, prepared jointly by the IPA CIS Permanent Commission on Social Policy and Human Rights and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

At the end of the event, the Council members approved the chairpersons of the IPA CIS Permanent Commissions, elected at previous meetings of the commissions, considered the issue of making additions to the IPA CIS work plan for 2019, and discussed the IPA CIS work plan for 2020.