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QNA
Doha
The 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was a huge success despite the unjust blockade and the wide participation in the assembly was a befitting response to the blockade, Shura Council Speaker HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al Mahmoud has said.
“Qatar appreciates the praise it received for its hosting of the 140th Assembly of the IPU and its accompanying meetings,” Mahmoud said at a joint press conference with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Gabriela Cuevas Barron and Secretary-General of the IPU Martin Chungong on Wednesday.
He said the IPU’s praise reflects the appreciation of Qatar’s Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, government and people. “Qatar, despite the unjust blockade, succeeded in organising the meetings, which were unprecedented in terms of the level of participation,” he added.
Mahmoud said parliament speakers expressed their satisfaction with the organisation of the assembly during their meetings with the Amir and the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani. Some of the parliament speakers condemned the blockade, and voiced the importance of ending it given its illegal status, he added.
“Qatar has moved past the blockade, but is concerned by its humanitarian implications, as families continue to remain divided in addition to the violations of the rights to education,” Mahmoud said.
He called for avoiding the involvement of citizens and families in political disputes.
Mahmoud said the violations committed by the blockading countries were documented in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights after a fact-finding commission visited Doha and met the victims.
A total of 80 parliament speakers and 40 deputy speakers took part in this year’s meeting. There were also 2,200 members of parliaments, who represented another 46,000 around the world, and who came to Qatar looking for a better future for peace, stability, and the rule of law.
Mahmoud said the union will work earnestly to achieve the agreements they reached during the Doha meetings, in cooperation with the union’s president and secretary-general.
He said parliament speakers held the meeting that was the first of its kind in the IPU’s history to discuss how parliaments can realise the aspirations of people, in addition to a number of other issues that could enhance joint parliamentary work.
Mahmoud said they supported the outcomes of the meeting from the beginning, given the role they can play in benefitting humanity, whether in terms of rejecting the restriction of freedoms, human rights violations, or the other matters discussed by the union’s committees.
He said they will support the union, and that they have great belief in its president and secretary-general.
In response to a question on parliamentary diplomacy, Mahmoud said it was an important part of political work, noting that the union’s meetings with the UN focused on political conditions all over the world, and warned that there was a slow reaction in dealing with some of the problems.
He highlighted that the UN, during a meeting with the IPU three months ago in New York, asked parliaments for help in achieving its goals. The union, for its part, proposed a wider use of preventative diplomacy to help resolve problems rather than wait for it to occur.
Doha
The 140th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) was a huge success despite the unjust blockade and the wide participation in the assembly was a befitting response to the blockade, Shura Council Speaker HE Ahmed bin Abdullah bin Zaid al Mahmoud has said.
“Qatar appreciates the praise it received for its hosting of the 140th Assembly of the IPU and its accompanying meetings,” Mahmoud said at a joint press conference with President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Gabriela Cuevas Barron and Secretary-General of the IPU Martin Chungong on Wednesday.
He said the IPU’s praise reflects the appreciation of Qatar’s Amir HH Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, government and people. “Qatar, despite the unjust blockade, succeeded in organising the meetings, which were unprecedented in terms of the level of participation,” he added.
Mahmoud said parliament speakers expressed their satisfaction with the organisation of the assembly during their meetings with the Amir and the Prime Minister and Minister of Interior HE Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser bin Khalifa al Thani. Some of the parliament speakers condemned the blockade, and voiced the importance of ending it given its illegal status, he added.
“Qatar has moved past the blockade, but is concerned by its humanitarian implications, as families continue to remain divided in addition to the violations of the rights to education,” Mahmoud said.
He called for avoiding the involvement of citizens and families in political disputes.
Mahmoud said the violations committed by the blockading countries were documented in the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights after a fact-finding commission visited Doha and met the victims.
A total of 80 parliament speakers and 40 deputy speakers took part in this year’s meeting. There were also 2,200 members of parliaments, who represented another 46,000 around the world, and who came to Qatar looking for a better future for peace, stability, and the rule of law.
Mahmoud said the union will work earnestly to achieve the agreements they reached during the Doha meetings, in cooperation with the union’s president and secretary-general.
He said parliament speakers held the meeting that was the first of its kind in the IPU’s history to discuss how parliaments can realise the aspirations of people, in addition to a number of other issues that could enhance joint parliamentary work.
Mahmoud said they supported the outcomes of the meeting from the beginning, given the role they can play in benefitting humanity, whether in terms of rejecting the restriction of freedoms, human rights violations, or the other matters discussed by the union’s committees.
He said they will support the union, and that they have great belief in its president and secretary-general.
In response to a question on parliamentary diplomacy, Mahmoud said it was an important part of political work, noting that the union’s meetings with the UN focused on political conditions all over the world, and warned that there was a slow reaction in dealing with some of the problems.
He highlighted that the UN, during a meeting with the IPU three months ago in New York, asked parliaments for help in achieving its goals. The union, for its part, proposed a wider use of preventative diplomacy to help resolve problems rather than wait for it to occur.
