The 64th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference (CPC) for 2019 was held in Kampala, Uganda from September 22- 29, 2019 under the theme ‘Adaption, engagement, and evolution of parliaments in a rapidly changing Commonwealth’. It was organized by the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) Uganda Branch and the Parliament of Uganda and hosted by the CPA President Designate (2018-2019), Rt Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda.
Key Points:
i. Indian delegation: It was led by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Other members were Dr Rajeev Bindal, Speaker of the Himachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly, Mohd Ahmed Sharif, Chairman of the Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council, P Sreeramakrishnan, Speaker of Kerala Legislative Assembly and Prem Chand Aggarwal, Speaker of Uttarakhand Vidhan Sabha, Aparajita Sarangi, Lok Sabha Member of Parliament (MP), Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Hanumanthaiah, MP (Rajya Sabha), Snehlata Shrivastava, Secretary General, Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly and other Presiding Officers and Secretaries of State Legislatures.
ii. Workshops: 10 workshops were held on various subjects. Aparajita Sarangi, Lok Sabha MP, was the Discussion Leader’ in a workshop on ‘Strategies to deal with Youth Unemployment’; Rajya Sabha member Roopa Ganguly spoke as the ‘Lead Speaker’ in a workshop on ‘Fostering a Culture of Respect, Fairness and Dignity: Sexual Harassment has no place in legislature’.
iii. Other Conferences and Meetings: The other conferences and meetings which were held are 37th CPA Small Branches Conference; 6th triennial Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) Conference; 64th CPA General Assembly; meetings of the CPA Executive Committee; and the Society of Clerks at the Table (SOCATT) meetings. It also held elections for the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP), the CPA Treasurer and the CPA Small Branches Chairperson for new three-year terms.
iv. India strongly opposed Pakistan’s propaganda on Kashmir.
About CPA:
♦ It was previously known as the Empire Parliamentary Association.
♦ Chairperson: Hon. Emilia Monjowa Lifaka
About Uganda:
♦ Capital: Kampala
♦ Currency: Ugandan shilling