Asian Parliaments share their experiences in the Fight against COVID-19 Pandemic
Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) held its first virtual meeting on Thursday, June 09 in Ankara, Turkey. This event was organized by the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (GNAT), in cooperation with the APA General Secretariat. Delegates from over 20 member parliaments present at this meeting highlighted their best practices in the face of the coronavirus outbreak. As the first meeting experienced in cyberspace, the participants welcomed the idea and expressed their concern over the dire economic consequences of the virus crisis. The meeting was opened by video messages from the Speakers of the Iranian and Turkish Parliaments.
In his video message, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, Dr. Mohamamd Bagher Qalibaf called on Asian Parliamentarians to approve the laws against unjust US sanctions hampering efforts to contain COVID-19 Pandemic. He also underlined central role of the Asian Parliaments in mitigating critical impact of the devastating economic consequence of this pandemic. To this end, Qalibaf called on the APA Secretariat to provide a broad based report on the potentials of the Asian Parliaments as a milestone for closer cooperation in economic affairs. He reiterated the vital importance of parliamentary cooperation today among all the members of the organization, adding that a review of strategies is necessary to improve the economic relations, which has been postponed as result of coronavirus outbreak.
Elsewhere in his remarks, the Iranian Parliament Speaker called for condemnation of the US maximum pressure on world nations, including Iran and urged the need for serious measures against US inhuman behaviors. “US sanctions have hindered provision of medical equipment needed by countries to fight the coronavirus pandemic”, he underscored. Turning to the issue of Palestine, he called on international community to take a firm stance against occupation and oppressive policies of the Zionist regime. Qalibaf concluded his remark by expressing readiness of the new Iranian Parliament to develop its parliamentary relations with all the parliaments world over.
Turkish parliament speaker, Prof. Mustafa Sentop the incumbent APA President sent a video message to the first APA virtual meeting on Thursday. In his video message, he said “COVID -19 essentially reminded us once again that we were a big family and we had a joint destiny and future”. He continued, “as its first experience, the APA has gathered today for the first time on virtual basis since the 12th APA plenary session held last December in Turkey’s Mediterranean resort city of Antalya”.
Sentop recalled that more than 10 million people were infected with COVID 19 and the death toll from the pandemic rose to more than 500,000 in the world. “We have experienced a common trouble and pain, and continue to experience it. So we should relieve it and find the solution together”, he said. Turkish Parliament Speaker also noted that the international community should be more active in the fight against the pandemic. He then referred to an overall number of persons infected with OVVID-19 in Turkey, including the number of 187,511 recoveries and 5,282, death toll. The pandemic has claimed over 550,000 lives worldwide, while recoveries exceeded 6.6, million, according to figures compiled by the US-based Johns Hopkins University. Total confirmed cases topped 12 million Thursday, he remarked.
- 10 July 2020
- Visited: 20409
- News ID: 4018
- Source: