Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis chairman attending 3rd World Conference of Speakers of Parliament

The broad theme for the Conference is “Parliaments in a world of crisis: securing global democratic accountability for the common good”.

The conference was opened by President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union Theo-Ben Gurirab who stressed the importance of the event.

Addressing the opening ceremony, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon highlighted the importance of parliaments in helping tackle various global challenges.

“The world's elected parliamentarians can play a leading role in tackling some of today's global crises and challenges, including unconstitutional changes of government and threats to the rule of law”, he said.

The Secretary-General noted “parliaments can and should be a force for stability, noting that democracies rarely wage war against each other and that civil wars break out less frequently in well-established democracies”.

Mr. Ban pointed out “parliaments help to resolve ethnic, religious and economic tensions. They reinforce justice and the rule of law. They can help advance the interests of women and minority groups.”

During the three-day conference, the participants will examine their collective response as the highest representatives of their legislatures to a world facing multiple challenges.

The conference is scheduled to adopt a declaration upon its closure, calling for securing global democratic accountability for the common good.

Speaker Asadov is expected to address the conference on July 21.

On the sidelines of the event, Asadov met his Armenian counterpart Ovik Abramyan to exchange views on settlement of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.


/AzerTAc/