The Council of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly (IPA CIS) held a meeting in St Petersburg, Russian Federation on 21 November. The event was attended by Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova. 

The meeting addressed several organisational matters and agenda items. 

During the discussion of the final report by the IPA CIS Monitoring Mission on the snap elections to the Milli Majlis held in Azerbaijan, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova expressed her gratitude to the entire group of observers, including the observers from the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, for their efforts. 

Saying that the re-scheduling of the elections to 1 September and their conduct on that day was primarily related to Azerbaijan going to host the COP29, Speaker Sahiba Gafarova emphasised that the decision was fully justified. According to her, parliamentary elections are among the most significant events in the country’s political life, requiring the mobilisation of all state resources. Organising the elections to high standards would have been an impossible task at the time of an international event of such scale, one attended by over 70,000 guests from 196 countries, including more than 80 presidents, vice presidents, and prime ministers, would be taking place.

The Speaker informed the event participants that the recent parliamentary elections were also remarkable for being the first parliamentary elections conducted across Azerbaijan's entire sovereign territory, including lands liberated from occupation, following this year’s presidential elections in February. The holding of these elections across all of Azerbaijan, including the liberated territories, became a historically significant event for the country. 

During the elections, the concerned state authorities ensured all conditions for citizens to freely express their will and for complete transparency of the electoral process. All necessary measures were taken to conduct the voting in accordance with current legislation and international standards. 

The Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan of the seventh convocation remains committed, as before, to developing interparliamentary dialogue. Going forward, particular attention will be given to deepening bilateral cooperation with friendly parliaments and expanding interactions within the framework of the Interparliamentary Assembly. 

Addressing this matter, Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko and Speaker of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of the Republic of Belarus Natalya Kochanova conveyed their congratulations to Azerbaijan and President Ilham Aliyev on the successful organisation of such a grand and important event as COP29. They also congratulated Sahiba Gafarova on the successful conduct of the parliamentary elections and her re-election as chair of the Milli Majlis.  

The Press and Public Relations Department

The Milli Majlis