The official proceedings of the 66th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association began today in Accra, the capital of Ghana. The opening ceremony was held at the Convention Hall in Accra.
The main theme of the program is Ten Years of the Commonwealth Charter: Protecting the Values and Principles Set by Parliaments. The inauguration ceremony was addressed by Osei Kayei Mensah Bonsu, Majority Party Leader of the Parliament of Ghana and Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of Ghana, Stephen Twigg, Secretary General of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association. Twigg, in his address, talked about the priorities of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association.
He described women's representation in parliaments, protection of human rights and climate change as priorities of the Association. He congratulated India, New Zealand and Sierra Leone for taking important steps towards increasing women's representation in Parliament.
Twigg said that the Commonwealth Secretariat is making continuous efforts to give a legislative structure to the Commonwealth. If the British government does not take the initiative to make a law in this regard this time, then consideration will be given to removing the headquarters of the Commonwealth from Britain.
It is noteworthy that the Commonwealth was established as a welfare institution but now efforts are being made to give it a legal form by the British Parliament.
The keynote address of the event was given by the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo. Workshops on different topics were organized in the programme.
Speaker Jharkhand Assembly Rabindra Nath Mahato participated in the discussions organized and spoke on three topics.
In the workshop organized on the subject, the Speaker reiterated what former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had said in the conference organized in Stockholm in 1972 that the environment cannot be protected unless poverty is solved. People who are forced to live a polluted life due to their economic difficulties cannot be taught the lesson of environmental protection. Therefore, the priority of all the countries of the world should be to solve the problem of poverty and in this the rich countries should help the poor countries.
Secondly, on the topic of contribution of women's reservation in Parliament to women empowerment, the Speaker said in his lecture that Our Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, in his speech had described women as emotionally more powerful than men. Their capacity for sacrifice was said to be greater than that of men. The Speaker made his presentation in the Parliament stating that reservation for women is necessary.
The third topic is to further streamline the parliamentary process through e-Parliament. While giving his views on this subject, the Speaker highlighted the importance of e-Parliament and highlighted the achievements of Jharkhand in this direction, including taking the members to smart desks through the National e-Vidhan Application (NeVA) and the ongoing assembly elections. Focused his lecture on topics like making the proceedings available live on public domain etc.
The General Assembly meeting of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association is scheduled tomorrow in which the Jharkhand branch will be represented by the Speaker.
