Chair of the Milli Majlis took the floor during at the general discussion at the 5^th World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in Austria’s capital city of Vienna on 8 September.

‘It is well-know that the unification of all the forces and efforts of mankind in response to the challenges of the modern era extremely depends on a continuous and equal dialogue between all the components of international relations system,’ Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said, also calling for emphasis on the significance of inter-parliamentary co-operation and parliamentary diplomacy.

Speaker Gafarova spoke of the recognition of the indispensable role of parliamentary diplomacy in contributing to peace and security.

‘This should be done, first of all, through promoting respect for the foundational principles, in particular, sovereignty, territorial integrity and inviolability of internationally recognised borders,’ she continued.

The fact that parliaments as well as inter-parliamentary co-operation platforms have specific mechanisms and key tools to influence the decision-making process both on national and international level provides an important role for legislatures to play in the international relations. This is paving the way for parliaments to turn into a significant component of the global governance, according to Mrs Gafarova.

‘In this sense, I believe that the establishment of the parliamentary dimension to work with the UN following the World Conference of Speakers of Parliaments held in 2000 was a historic and strategic step,’ said the speaker of the Milli Majlis.

Mrs Gafarova went further to say that today parliaments could influence the UN activities through two mechanisms: via the permanent missions of the member states to the organisation and by applying to the latter directly.

‘Speaking about the new influence mechanisms, I would like to draw your attention to the organisational and mediational role which can be demonstrated by the Inter-Parliamentary Union. I believe that providing information to the national parliaments about the global issues debated at and decisions adopted by the UN and vice-versa presentation of positions of national parliaments to the UN could be one of the new and significant directions of activity of the Inter-Parliamentary Union.’

In the same speech also, the chair of the Milli Majlis responded to the unfounded claims voiced by the Armenian speaker.

Speaker Sahiba Gafarova said that, rather than continue projecting its false narratives, Armenia must reconcile itself with and accept the new reality, and implement fully the trilateral statements of November 2020 and January 2021 that set agreed parameters for consolidating peace and security in the region.

The Press and Public Relations Department
The Milli Majlis