Sixth plenary session of APA closes in Pakistan

The Sixth Plenary Session of the Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) and the Second Executive Council meeting hosted by the Senate of Pakistan in Islamabad from December 8 to 10 came to a close on Tuesday. About 30 countries, including Kuwait, representing parliaments and parliamentarians from all over Asia participated in the conference, and unanimously approved the Islamabad Declaration to promote cooperation and solidarity among Asian nations. The APA this time has a very relevant conference theme namely, "Asian Century: Cooperation in Economy, Energy and Environment." The Deputy Speaker of Kuwait National Assembly, Mubarak Al-Khurinij, Vice President of Kuwait Inter Parliamentary Group, Faisal Al-Shaye', Secretary of Kuwait Inter Parliamentary Group, Jamal-AL Omar, Treasurer of Kuwait Inter Parliamentary Group, Saleh Ashour and members of Parliament, Dr. Abdullah Al-Turaiji and Madhi Al-Hajeri also participated in the conference. Al-Khurinij on Tuesday passed a condolence message during the closing session of the conference on the death of the South African leader Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. Al Shaye', in his address to the conference, said that APA deals with variety of issues of great concern that includes combating terrorism, support and respect of cultural diversity, combating aliments of poverty, protection and promotion of overseas laborers. During the conference, the Chairman of the Senate of Pakistan, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bokhari, was unanimously elected as the new APA President. Pakistani Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, who is Chairman of the APA organizing committee, said the APA is the institutional voice of elected representatives of Asia and brings together over 350 political parties, both from the government and opposition in around 30 Asian countries. Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif also addressed the conference on Tuesday and stressed greater connectivity among the Asian countries for their mutual development and prosperity during the 6th plenary of APA. In an interview with KUNA, the member of the Palestine National Council, Zuhair R. Sanduka, declared the conference as successful as it dealt with many key issues in the region. He said Palestine has tabled a resolution condemning the Israeli occupation -- approved by the conferees. He added that another resolution was also approved in APA, declaring 2014 as year of solidarity with Palestine. The speaker of the Pakistan side of Kashmir Assembly, Sardar Ghulam Sadiq, said in an interview with KUNA, "We have appealed on this forum for the resolution of Kashmir issue and demanded the right of self-determination." During the three-day conference, Bahrain was elected to head the meeting of Standing Committee on Social and Cultural affairs, Turkey for Committee on Political Affairs and Indonesia for Economic and Sustainable Development Affairs. Moreover, Cambodia has announced it will hold the next APA Plenary session. A coordinating meeting of APA women Parliamentarians was also conducted on the last day of the plenary session to ensure more presence of women parliamentarians in the APA. The member of the Federal Assembly Parliament of the Russian Federation, Zugura Rakhmatullina, told KUNA after attending the meeting that "women parliamentarians are a treasure for any parliament as they have a good practice for the social issues." She further said that women parliamentarians of APA have raised the issue of low attendance of women in the conference and have expressed her hope that the issue may be resolved. The President of APA, in his closing statement of the conference, said, "We all got together here with common aspirations to strengthen ties and partnerships, and share experiences while pursuing the common vision of Asian Century." He added, "As this plenary is coming to an end, I am pleased to share that a new beginning has been initiated as we are departing with fresh perspectives on old, as well as emerging issues together with a deeper understanding of the challenges we face on our way."