Chairman Senate Raza Rabbani meets Lord Speaker and Speaker House of Commons in London

Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Emphasizes on enhanced cooperation between two Parliaments


Mian Raza Rabbani, Chairman Senate of Pakistan, who is on an official visit to the United Kingdom, met Lord Speaker, House of Lords, Rt. Hon. Baroness D’Souza and Speaker House of Commons, Rt. Hon. John Bercow at their chambers in the British Parliament today. He was accompanied by H.E. Syed Ibne Abbas, Pakistan High Commissioner to the UK.

The Chairman, in his meetings, expressed satisfaction over the existing level of cooperation between the parliaments of the two countries. However, he underlined the need to further institutionalize this cooperation through parliamentary exchanges, conferences and seminars. In this regard, the Chairman proposed a regional conference of the Commonwealth Parliamentarians in Islamabad to learn more from each other’s experiences. Baroness D’Souza appreciated this idea and assured to work together with Pakistan on the proposal.

The Chairman Senate commended the role of Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), in bringing the Parliamentarians of all Commonwealth Nations together on one platform. Giving an overview of the legislation in Pakistan, the Chairman informed the Speakers that Pakistan’s Parliament had carried out effective legislation to protect the rights of women and human rights in general. Appreciating this, Lord Speaker D’Souza said that contrary to their portrayal in media, Pakistani women were impressively involved in all walks of life.

The Chairman apprised the Speakers that Pakistan’s political parties, civil society, media and Bar Associations were asserting themselves to ensure good governance and transparency. He updated them that operation against extremists and terrorists was going on successfully in the country and situation in country’s commercial hub, Karachi, had significantly improved.

The two sides expressed desire to forge even stronger relations between the Commonwealth Parliamentary Associations (CPA) branches of Pakistan and the UK, to empower women and young members of the Parliament. British Speaker John Bercow said that the British Parliamentarians could learn a lot from Pakistan’s Parliamentary practices through frequent exchanges. He also briefed the Chairman on the working of Parliamentary Committees.

The Chairman invited both the Speakers to visit Pakistan, to which they agreed in principle and thanked him for this goodwill gesture.

Both sides recognized a long standing affiliation between the two Parliaments and there was a consensus on promoting the Commonwealth shared values of democracy, human rights and rule of law by working together.

Short URL: http://tinyurl.com/j568c4v
QR Code:


Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *