Shifting balance: Asian Parliament will be born this century, says Mushahid

Asian Parliamentary Assembly’s seventh plenary to be held in Lahore on Dec 1 and 3

ISLAMABAD: The ‘Asian century’ should lead to an Asian Parliament, chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Defence and Defence Production Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed told visiting diplomats on Monday.

“Balance of economic and political power is shifting and this century is the Asian century,” he said.

Senator Mushahid Hussain, chairman of the organising committee of Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA), said the seventh plenary of APA “will focus on issues that are important to all of us.” The theme of the conference is “Quest for an Asian Parliament in Asian century”.



Mushahid made these remarks while giving a briefing to APA ambassadors at the Parliament House.

The briefing was held to apprise them about the seventh plenary of APA going to be held in Lahore from December 1-3. The first six plenary sessions were held in Tehran (twice), Jakarta, Bandung, Damascus and Islamabad, respectively.

“It will promote freedom, social justice, peace, security and friendship to meet the objectives of the assembly, highlighting Pakistan’s role as a pivotal player in Asia as a vibrant democracy,” he said.

The briefing was attended by diplomats from a number of Asian countries, who have confirmed their presence in the conference and asked others to do the same at the earliest.

The APA has 41 member parliaments, 17 observer parliaments and eight observer organisations including IPU, ICAPP and Asean. The assembly will have around 150 delegates in Lahore. Delegates will begin arriving for the assembly on November 29. The conference will conclude with the adoption of a Lahore declaration.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 25^th, 2014.