Parliamentary leaders from around the world gather in Riyadh
February 26, 2012
The Speaker of the Majlis Al-Shura (Consultative Council), Sheikh Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Ibrahim Al-Asheikh, opened the 3rd Consultative Meeting of Speakers of Parliaments of Member States of the Group of Twenty (G-20) in Riyadh yesterday. During the two-day gathering, which was held under the theme “Economic Growth for a Sustainable Safe World,” participants discussed a number of international issues, including cross-cultural dialogue, the global financial crisis, and the role of energy in sustainable development.After completing their deliberations, the delegates issued a final statement today. The document stressed the importance of the initiatives of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz to promote dialogue between civilizations and religions and to provide energy for the world’s poor. The parliamentary leaders called upon the international community to create a climate conducive to dialogue, tolerance and the development of a culture of human rights – far away from fanaticism, extremism and racism. The statement also stressed the importance of maintaining stable energy markets through producer-consumer dialogue; achieving a nuclear weapon-free Middle East; and addressing the problem of terrorism without linking it to any religion, culture or ethnic group.
Participants and observers at the meeting included Speaker of the Spanish Senate Bio Garcia Escodero; Speaker of the Italian Senate Vaneno Kite; Speaker of the Argentine House of Representatives Julian Dominguez; Speaker of the Brazilian Parliament Marco Maia; Deputy Chairman of the Indian Parliament K. Rahman Khan; Speaker of the Indonesian Parliament Dr. Marzouki Ali; Secretary of Japan’s International Conferences Division Kazuma Nishikido; Speaker of the Canadian Senate Noël A. Kinsella; Speaker of the Kazakh Senate Kairat Mami; Speaker of the Malaysian Parliament Tan Siri Bandikar Amin Molia; Speaker of the Jordanian House of Notables Taher Al-Masri; Deputy Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Deputies Council Han Che De; Speaker of the Hungarian Parliament Dr. Laszlo Kover; Speaker of Morocco’s House of Advisors Mohammed Cheikh Biadillah; Deputy Speaker of the Russian Parliament Elias Omakhanov; Deputy Speaker of the South Korean Parliament Chung Ui-Hwa; Vice President of the European Parliament Othmar Karas; Speaker of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Abdulwahid Al-Radhi; and many other parliamentary officials.
