Assembly Speaker heads to South Africa for commonwealth meet
Delhi Assembly Speaker Vijender Gupta left for Cape Town, South Africa, on Saturday to attend the 69th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) from 13 to 18 September 2026. The Parliament of South Africa and the CPA South Africa Branch are hosting the event.
The theme is “Strengthening International Law and Parliamentary Democracy in a Changing World Order: Commonwealth Leadership.”
The Conference will bring together Speakers, Presiding Officers, Parliamentarians and officials from across the Commonwealth to discuss current challenges facing legislatures and ways to strengthen parliamentary democracy and cooperation.
The Deputy Speaker of the Delhi Legislative Assembly, Mohan Singh Bisht, will also attend the Conference.
The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), established in 1911, links over 180 national, state, provincial and territorial Parliaments and Legislatures across the Commonwealth. The CPA serves as a platform for Parliamentarians and officials to share experiences and strengthen democratic governance and parliamentary practices.
During the Conference, Speaker Gupta will chair a session on “Delivering Inclusivity Measures in Capacity-Strained Parliaments.”
He will also speak at a workshop on “Artificial Intelligence in Parliaments: Current Applications, Prospects and Implementation Strategies,” focusing on the use of AI in legislative work, its role in research and information access, and the challenges of responsible implementation.
He will highlight the need for accuracy, transparency, accountability, data integrity and oversight as legislatures adopt new technologies.
The Conference will also discuss inclusive and fair trade, inequality, underdevelopment, accessibility for persons with disabilities, parliamentary leadership in climate adaptation, and ways to strengthen Parliament’s engagement with the public.
