Parliament speaker highlights historic Azerbaijani elections and COP29 organization at CIS Assembly PHOTO

A meeting of the Council of the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly (IPA CIS) was held in St. Petersburg, where the Speaker of Azerbaijan's Milli Majlis, Sahiba Gafarova, participated.

During the meeting, various organizational issues and the agenda were discussed, Caliber.Az reports via local media.

Gafarova took the opportunity to express her gratitude to all observer groups, especially while discussing the final conclusions of the CIS IPA mission, which observed Azerbaijan’s extraordinary elections to the Milli Majlis.

She addressed the significant change in the election date, explaining that the shift to September 1 was primarily due to Azerbaijan’s hosting of COP29. "This decision has fully justified itself," Gafarova said, highlighting that the parliamentary elections were an important event in the country's political life, requiring the mobilization of state resources. "It was impossible to organize the elections qualitatively during such a global international event with the participation of more than 70,000 guests from 196 countries, including over 80 presidents, vice presidents, and prime ministers," she added.

The Chairwoman of the Milli Majlis also informed participants that the recent parliamentary elections marked a historic moment, as they were held across the entire sovereign territory of Azerbaijan for the first time since the presidential elections in February. "Holding these elections throughout Azerbaijan, including in the lands liberated from occupation, is a historically important event for our country," she emphasized.

Gafarova further explained that the government ensured all conditions were in place for the free expression of citizens' will and full transparency of the electoral process. "All necessary measures were taken to hold the voting in accordance with the legislation in force and international standards," she noted.

In her speech, Gafarova reaffirmed the commitment of the Milli Majlis of Azerbaijan, in its seventh convocation, to continue developing inter-parliamentary dialogue. She also stressed the importance of deepening bilateral cooperation with friendly parliaments and expanding cooperation within the framework of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

During the meeting, both Valentina Matvienko, Chairperson of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of Russia, and Natalia Kochanova, Chairperson of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, congratulated the Azerbaijani people and President Ilham Aliyev on the successful organization of COP29. They also congratulated Gafarova on the success of the parliamentary elections and her re-election as Chair of the Milli Majlis.

By Tamilla Hasanova