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Russia’s lower house speaker warns against ‘demagogic fixes’

A new legal framework is needed, according to the parliamentary speaker

MOSCOW, July 1. /TASS/. The practice of parliamentary tourism and demagogic fixes cannot help boost the prestige of parliamentarism, Speaker of the State Duma (lower house of Russia’s parliament) Vyacheslav Volodin said on Monday at the second International Forum "Development of Parliamentarism."

"In our opinion, the task of inter-parliamentary bodies is to find solutions to the issues faced by our countries. However, we can frequently see in practice that there are two extremes," Volodin said. "On the one hand, it is parliamentary tourism, while on the other, politicization and demagogic fixes," he stated. "These can neither help boost the prestige of parliamentarism nor solve the issues which have piled up in each country and globally."

According to Volodin, lawmakers should make preemptive moves by creating a new legal framework and by sharing experience.

"It could be possible only through dialogue and equal inter-parliamentary cooperation, which we must develop within the framework of parliamentary dimension," he added. Collective efforts in this field will bring about the results that meet the interests of all countries, the politician pointed out.

In this context, the State Duma speaker emphasized the increasing role of new forms of inter-parliamentary cooperation. For example, the fourth meeting between the parliamentary speakers of Eurasian nations, which was initiated by Russia’s State Duma and the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea, is due to take place later this year.

"The annual conference on security and interregional cooperation, where Russia, China, Iran, Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan participate, has proven to be useful," he recalled.

"These forms make it possible to discuss pressing issues of inter-parliamentary cooperation. We go by the necessity to promote a positive and unifying agenda so as to reduce the possibility of conflicts, to cooperate, to prevent the system of international law from being undermined, and the key point, to develop our countries," Volodin concluded.

Inter-parliamentary forum

The second International Forum "Development of Parliamentarism" is taking place at the World Trade Center in Moscow on July 1-3. The State Duma launched the event. The first forum was held in Moscow on June 4-5, 2018 at the initiative of Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. This year, about 800 lawmakers and experts from 132 countries have assembled in Moscow to attend the forum. Among them are 41 speakers of national parliaments.