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Asian century should lead to Asian Parliament: Mushahid
ISLAMABAD: Asian Parliamentary Assembly’s (APA’s) Organising Committee Chairman Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Monday said the seventh plenary of APA will focus on issues that are important to all of us. “Balance of economic and political power is shifting and this century is the Asian century,” he said.
He made these remarks while giving a briefing to APA ambassadors at the Parliament House. The briefing was held to apprise them about the seventh plenary of APA going to be held in Lahore from December 1-3. The theme of the conference is “Quest for an Asian Parliament in Asian century.” The briefing was attended by diplomats from a number of Asian countries followed by hi-tea hosted in their honour.
Organising committee members Joint Secretary Senate Maj (r) Husnain Haider, Joint Secretary Senate Arshad Jan Pathan and Senate Director Protocol Tariq Bin Waheed were also present at the briefing.
Senator Mushahid Hussain thanked the countries who have confirmed their presence in the conference and asked others to do the same at the earliest. His remarks were followed by a brief presentation. The distinguished diplomats were told about the history of the APA as well as pertinent information about the seventh plenary regarding security, logistics, programme and confirmations of delegates.
The APA has 41 member parliaments, 17 observer parliaments and 8 observer organisations including Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). The assembly in Lahore will be having around 150 delegates. Delegates will start arriving for the assembly on November 29-30. The assembly will have its executive council meeting on December 1; the plenary sessions and committee meetings will be held on December 2-3. The conference will conclude with the adoption of Lahore Declaration.
The presentation was followed by questions and comments from diplomats, which were responded to effectively by the senator and the joint secretaries. The briefing reinforced the commitment of APA countries towards working on mutual goals.
Asian Parliamentary Assembly was established in the seventh session of Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace (AAPP) in Islamabad in 2004 and strives to transform itself into an Asian Parliament. The first six plenary sessions were held in Tehran (twice), Jakarta, Bandung, Damascus and Islamabad respectively.
This is the second APA conference to be held in Pakistan, the first was held in December last year in Islamabad where the APA elected Senate Chairman Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari as APA President for two years. APA will be the biggest parliamentary conference in the history of the historically and culturally rich city of Lahore. It will promote freedom, social justice, peace, security and friendship to meet the objectives of the assembly, highlighting Pakistan’s role as a pivotal player in Asia as a vibrant democracy.
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk