PHOTO: Chairman of the Russian State Duma Viacheslav Volodin addressing the plenary session on July 25, 2019.
On July 25, 2019, Chairman Viacheslav Volodin addressed the final plenary session of the spring session of the State Duma, summing up the results of the 2019 spring session of the State Duma. He reminded the MPs that active work is being carried out at various platforms, forums and conferences organized by the State Duma, and that these efforts are beginning to attract more and more countries.
He pointed out that “it would be right to hold the International Forum ‘Development of Parliamentarism’ annually, especially as it is in demand and this is an additional opportunity to discuss the development of relations between countries.” Also, such new forms such as the Conference of Speakers of Eurasian Countries’ Parliaments (MSEAP) and Conference of the Speakers of the Parliaments of Afghanistan, China, Iran, Pakistan, Russia, and Turkey on issues of security and counterterrorism are successfully developing. The latter will be expanded, said Chairman Volodin, and other countries – in particular Iraq, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and others – are planning to join the conference.
“We will be able to solve a lot of problems through such new forms of interaction. Also, most importantly, we will be able to contribute to the development of relations between our countries, complementing them with a parliamentary dimension, said the Chairman, stressing that “parliamentary tourism” should become a thing of the past and inter-parliamentary platforms should be used to resolve specific issues.
On the topic of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), the Chairman announced that after having been deprived of the right to vote for several years the Russian delegation returned to work in the PACE spring session. At the same time, he stressed that difficulties in the work of the PACE still remain. “There are a lot of political aspects in the work of PACE, a lot of what PACE absorbed during the Cold War years and can’t part with these rudiments.” Citing the PACE monitoring system as an example, Chairman Volodin said that “such approaches should leave the PACE practice as soon as possible, and we all together could take part in the work of this structure with the understanding that its goal is to build an effective communication model based on understandable principles, absence of double standards, non-interference in the sovereign affairs of other states and the desire to achieve peace and prosperity in this large European home.”
http://duma.gov.ru/en/news/45890/
PHOTO: the local. Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez lost a parliamentary vote of confidence on July 25, 2019 after talks with the far-left to form a coalition government failed.
On July 25, Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez failed to garner enough votes for a simple majority in parliament to form another government. He now has another two months to find ways of getting support, either for a minority or coalition government. Without a deal in two months, Spain would have to go back to the polls in November.
The confidence vote came after an inconclusive general election which PM Sanchez won without a majority. In the confidence vote, only 124 MPs out of 350 – 123 of his Socialist party and just one other deputy from a regional grouping – voted for Sanchez.
“I am sorry to note that parliament remains blocked,” the Prime Minister told the lower house ahead of the vote, adding that a deal for a coalition government with the far-left Podemos party had “not been possible”.
Representatives from both parties had been working to secure a deal for what would be Spain’s first post-dictatorship coalition government. But talks stalled on Wednesday evening. On Thursday, Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo who led the Socialist party’s engotiations said that Podemos’ demands for government posts were “unrealistic”, accusing the far-left party of wanting a “parallel government” of its own.
PM Sanchez told parliament that Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias “wanted to enter government to control the government” despite coming fourth in the general elections in April. He said Podemos’ proposals entailed controlling 80% of government expenditure.
Podemos leader Pablo Iglesias retorted that Sanchez had done little to negotiate a government since the general elections in April. “It’s very difficult to negotiate in 48 hours what you didn’t want to negotiate in 80 days,” he said.
Both sides had agreed to give Podemos the post of deputy prime minister with responsibility for social issues and the health ministry. But Podemos also wanted the science and labor ministries, which the Socialist Party refused.
Since 2015, Spain has shifted from a two-party system to a deeply fragmented parliament with the emergence of Podemos, liberal party Ciudadanos and more recently far-right Vox. That has resulted in minority governments which have been unable to get any major reforms through, and Sanchez was forced to call early elections in February when his draft budget was rejected.
https://www.thelocal.es/20190725/pedro-sanchez-loses-confidence-vote-spain-heading-for-another-election
BY MSEAP Cyber Secretariat (mseap@assembly.go.kr) |
