Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Petr Tolstoy
Petr Olegovich
, Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutskiy
Leonid Eduardovich
and Chairman of the Committee on Issues of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Contacts with Fellow Countryman Leonid Kalashnikov
Leonid Ivanovich
told journalists about the participants and main topics of the International Forum “Development of Parliamentarism”.
“We are expecting about 800 foreign representatives from 131 countries. 85 countries will be represented at the level of official parliamentary delegations, of which 37 are African countries. Preliminary 49 heads of parliament from 46 countries will attend the Forum. 32 delegations are our partners from the African continent. 25 delegations from 22 countries will be represented at the level of deputy speakers, and seven delegations from four countries at the level of chairmen of parliamentary committees. The rest of the countries are represented by parliamentarians,” said Petr Tolstoy.
According to him, the Forum will be opened by Chairman of the State Duma Viacheslav Volodin
Vyacheslav Victorovich
The Chairman of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation of the eighth convocation. Elected in single mandate constituency № 163 (Saratov constituency - Saratov Oblast)
. The opening will be attended by Chairwoman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov. It is planned that the final declaration will be adopted.
Georgian parliamentarians have been invited
According to Leonid Kalashnikov, as for the CIS countries, nine states will definitely participate, four of them will be represented by speakers of parliaments. “We are waiting for a final decision of three countries: South Ossetia, Turkmenistan, and Georgia,” he added.
“We ensure and guarantee full safety, including to Georgian parliamentarians,” stressed Leonid Kalashnikov, adding that the final decision on the participation of the Georgian delegation will be made soon.
Participation of inter-parliamentary structures
“We will see not only the speakers of parliaments but also the chairmen of large inter-parliamentary structures at this Forum,” emphasized Petr Tolstoy.
These include the Asian Parliamentary Assembly, the Inter-Parliamentary Union, the Pan-African Parliament, PARLASUR, the Baltic Sea Parliamentary Conference, the Central American Parliament and other large international organizations.
“All our colleagues from parliaments of different countries come to Moscow to once again make sure that we all are on the same page, discuss joint legislative initiatives, and talk about the problems that are common to today's parliamentary activity,” he said.
“We invite everyone because we are open to all our colleagues who are interested in the topics proposed for discussion at the Forum,” added Petr Tolstoy.
Separate attention to the African continent
According to Leonid Slutskiy, Chairman of the Committee on International Affairs, it is very important that the third day of the Forum will be entirely devoted to cooperation with African countries. “This third day, July 3, will be, for sure, a kind of forerunner of the big Russia-Africa summit, which will be held in Sochi on October 24–26,” he said.
In addition, newly elected members of the European Parliament will come as members of some delegations, said Leonid Slutskiy. On the Russian side, all coordinators of deputy groups, the entire leadership of the State Duma, the leaders of factions, the deputy chairmen of the State Duma, a number of chairmen of the committees will be engaged in the work of the Forum.
Key topics of the Forum
“During the Forum, sections and round tables on the current agenda of extensive cooperation will be held. The legal regulation of the digital economy will be discussed, there will be a separate large discussion on the challenges to international security, including the information component, and on the problems of the work of inter-parliamentary institutions,” Petr Tolstoy listed.
“Legislative initiatives on the fight against poverty, inequality, environmental policy, youth policy, international humanitarian law — all these will be reflected in detail in the work of the Forum,” said the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma.
