Amir to attend opening of Inter-Parliamentary Union Saturday

His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani will attend the opening of the 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Saturday at Sheraton Doha and deliver a speech to mark the occasion, official Qatar News Agency (QNA) has reported.

The opening ceremony will be attended by the IPU president Gabriela Cuevas Barron, the United Nations Counter-Terrorism Office the under-secretary Vladimir Voronkov, speakers of parliaments, national councils, legislative councils, senates, and heads of delegations participating in the assembly, in addition to members of the union’s executive committee, organisations, and regional and international unions, QNA added.

With the theme of the general debate, ‘Parliaments as platforms to enhance education for peace, security and the rule of law,’ the assembly will continue until April 10.

The IPU statutory bodies, including the Governing Council, Standing Committees, Committees on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians and on Middle East Questions, as well as the Forum of Women Parliamentarians and the Forum of Young MPs, will meet at the event.

Several pre-events took place Friday in the presence of HE the Speaker of the Advisory Council Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al-Mahmoud along with other dignitaries.

Some 80 parliaments and more than 2,270 parliamentarians from 160 countries are participating in the event.The IPU Doha meet will see the largest participation of delegates in the history of its meetings outside the organisation’s headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The event will include both closed and open meetings with various groups, categorised according to regions such as the Latin American Group, Asian Group, Arab Group, African and European Group, among other interrelated groups.

All the preparations and arrangements for the meeting have been completed and the venue is set for the occasion. The 140th IPU Assembly and the related meetings will be held at Sheraton Doha.

Welcoming the Arab Group of the IPU, HE the Advisory Council Speaker al-Mahmoud expressed his hope that participants in the IPU meetings will get to know Qatar’s legacy and its people’s generosity.

He also expressed hope that participants can witness the comprehensive renaissance in all fields in Qatar. He stressed that they can consider Qatar not just their second home, but their first, and that the assembly is one for all Arabs.

HE al-Mahmoud held separate meetings with the Speaker of Bangladesh’s Jatiya Sangsad (parliament), Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, President of the Latin American Parliament Elias Castillo and President of the Parliament of Albania Gramoz Ruci. The meetings focused on enhancing Qatar’s parliamentary relations with those countries.

يتفضل حضرة صاحب السمو الشيخ تميم بن حمد آل ثاني أمير البلاد المفدى، مساء اليوم السبت، بحضور افتتاح الجمعية العامة 140 للاتحاد البرلماني الدولي، بفندق شيراتون الدوحة، وسيلقي سموه كلمة بهذه المناسبة.

وسيحضر حفل الافتتاح سعادة السيدة غابرييلا كويفاس بارون رئيسة الاتحاد البرلماني الدولي، وسعادة السيد فلاديمير فورونكوف نائب الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة لمكافحة الإرهاب، وأصحاب السعادة رؤساء البرلمانات والمجالس الوطنية والتشريعية والاتحادية ومجالس الأمة والنواب والشيوخ ورؤساء الوفود الأعضاء في الاتحاد البرلماني الدولي، إضافة إلى أصحاب السعادة أعضاء اللجنة التنفيذية للاتحاد والمنظمات والاتحادات الإقليمية والدولية.