Majlisi Namoyandagon (Tajikistan’s lower chamber of parliament) Speaker Mahmadtoir Zokirozoda is participating in a meeting of parliament speakers from the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member nations that is being held today in the form of video conference.
Muhammadato Sultonov, a spokesman for the Majlisi Namoyandagon, says they are discussing issues related to providing regional and international security under conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting participants are also expected to discuss the issue of approval of the chairperson of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly (PA CSTO) Standing Commissions on Socioeconomic and Legal Affairs.
CSTO Secretary-General Stanislav Zas will report on the results of the November (2019) session of the CSTO Security Council, the situation in the CSTO area of responsibility, measures to address challenges and threats to the collective security and ratification of agreements concluded in the frames of the CSTO.
A special attention will be paid to the current COVID-19 situation and possible legislative proposals to develop measures to provide security in the case of occurring of pandemics, Sultonov said.
Besides, PA CSTO Council members will discuss the issue of financing of the PA CSTO activities and set the dates for the next session of the PA CSTO Council and the 13th plenary session of the PA CSTO.
The PA CSTO is responsible for inter-parliamentary interaction of the IPA CIS members who are also members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The PA CSTO was established by a resolution “On Measures for Creating a Parliamentary Dimension of the Collective Security Treaty Organization at the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly”, which was adopted on November 16, 2006 to address the priority goals of the development of the CSTO legal framework within the IPA CIS.
The PA CSTO comprises parliamentary delegations from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. The administrative and legal framework of the PA CSTO is set out in the Provisional Regulations on the Parliamentary Assembly of the Collective Security Treaty Organization dated 30 March 2007. The PA CSTO Chair and the PA CSTO Council of the heads of parliament (parliament houses) oversee the operation of the PA CSTO. The rotating position of the PA CSTO Chair is held for a period of three years. The Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council has a specialized agency that is responsible for the administrative and technical aspects of the PA CSTO. The operation of this agency is supervised by the Executive Secretary of the PA CSTO. The PA CSTO and its Council meet at least twice a year.
The PA CSTO has three standing commissions on defense and security; on political affairs and international cooperation; and on socioeconomic and legal affairs. The PA CSTO Council has a Working Group on the Standardization and Coordination of the CSTO Member States’ Legislations and the Expert Advisory Council. The Information and Analysis Centre operates under the PA CSTO.
The documents regulating the activities of the PA CSTO bodies include Regulations of the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly; Regulations on the Standing Commissions of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly; Regulations on the Expert Advisory Council at the Council of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly; Regulations on the Information and Analysis Centre of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly; and Regulations on the Secretariat of the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly.
