The Asian Parliamentary Assembly (APA) was born in 2006 at the Seventh Session of the Association of Asian Parliamentary for Peace (AAPP). In other words, the APA is continuation of an organization which was established in 1999.
The APA comprises, in 2007, of 41 Member Parliaments and 17 observers. Each Member Parliament has a specific number of seats in the Assembly based on the size of their population. The number of total seats, and therefore, number of votes, is currently 206. Members of Assembly must be elected by members of the Member Parliaments. The APA Charter and Tehran Declaration lay out a framework of cooperation among Asian countries, and point out to a vision; that is Asian Integration.
 Background
The Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace grew out of the collective
desire and concerted effort of legislators and members of civil society
in Asia to promote peace in general and in the Asian region, in
particular. The AAPP was established in September 1999 in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to promote
unity toward the single purpose of peace and a concrete framework for
regional cooperation to strengthen human rights protection and
democracy. The AAPP was to cultivate strategies for the realization of
peace and the right to development as well as social, cultural, and
environmental rights of the peoples in Asia.
The First AAPP General Assembly was held in Dhaka, Bangladesh in September
1999.
The Second AAPP General Assembly was held in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on
November 5-10, 2000.
The Third AAPP General Assembly was held in Beijing and Chongqing on April
16-19, 2002.
The Fourth AAPP General Assembly was held in Manila, Philippines on August
31 - September 4, 2003.
The Fifth AAPP General Assembly was held in Islamabad, Pakistan on November
29 – December 3, 2004.
The Sixth AAPP General Assembly was held in Pattaya, Kingdom of Thailand in
2005.
The Seventh AAPP General Assembly and the First APA Plenary were held in
Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran from 12 to 14 November 2006.
The Seventh Session of the General assembly of the
Association of Asian Parliaments for Peace was held in Tehran from 12 to
14 November 2006. AAPP was transformed into Asian Parliaments Assembly
in pursuit of peace based on justice and of closer Asian parliamentary
cooperation.
President
On the basis of Article 13 of the APA Charter, the Honourable Dr. Haddad Adel was elected as the first President of the APA for a two-year term of office.
Secretariat Article 12
of the APA Charter reads in part:
"The venue of the Secretariat shall be in the country of the elected
president of the Assembly." Accordingly, the Hounroble, Dr. Haddad Adel, the
president of the APA, appointed H.E. Dr. Hadi Nejad Hosseinian, as his
senior adviser and the Secretary-General of the APA Secretariat. You may see a copy of Dr. Nejad-Hosseinian's curriculum vitae here.
The Secretariat has established 11 working groups
consisting of government and non-governmental experts and academics to
study, under close direction of a steering committee, headed by
Honourable, Mr. M. H. Aboutorabi, and consisting of Honourables Mr. H.
Shaykholislam, Mr. E. Afroogh, Mr. F. Mousavi, and Ms. E. Aminzadeh, the
following subjects so that the President of APA could submit to the APA
for its consideration a Draft Plan of Action called for under paragraph
9 of Tehran Declaration:
1- Pact of Friendship in Asia.
2- Integrated Energy Market in Asia.
3- Asian Monetary Fund. (Paragraph 30 of Tehran
Declaration)
4- Globalization; Opportunities and Challenges for
Asia
5- Reducing Poverty in Asia, UN MDG.
6- Cultural Diversity, the Strength of Asia.
7- Combating Corruption, and promoting Good
Governance.
And four other working groups for:
8- Drafting the APA Rules of Procedures. (As
required under Article 15 of the Charter)
9- Preparing the agenda and organization of the
Joint Conference of the APA parliamentarians and Foreign Ministers of
the member states.
10- Developing possible areas for enacting common
legislations.
11- Organizing a public information campaign.
The Secretariat looks forward to receiving the
views and suggestions of APA Parliaments on each and every one of these
eleven working groups to be able to prepare its report to the next
Plenary of the APA. |
