BAKU, Azerbaijan, September 7. Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova delivered an online address as a special gust of the 4th International Workshop of Academics and Parliamentarians, themed ‘The role of parliaments in the face of technological transformation, political fragmentation and the crisis of democratic confidence’ and organised by the Group of Latin American and Caribbean Countries (GRULAC) in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
This was reflected in the statement of the Parliament’s Press and Public Relations Department.
The Speaker observed that digital technologies are transforming the work of state institutions and their interaction with citizens fundamentally in the modern era. She stated that, whilst opening up great opportunities for parliaments, this process gives rise to serious responsibilities at the same time. Emphasising that digitalisation enhances the transparency and accessibility of parliaments, the Speaker drew attention to the fact that technology can in no way replace accountability, political dialogue and strong institutional structures.
As she was talking about the rich experience of Azerbaijan in this field, the Speaker of Parliament remarked that policy of digitalisation, e-government, artificial intelligence and innovations is being co-ordinated successfully in the country by the Digital Development Council under the leadership of First Vice President Mehriban Aliyeva. As Sahiba Gafarova pointed out, the Milli Majlis is strengthening the legal frameworks consistently and is using the e-documentation, e-vote and legislative monitoring systems actively. She remarked that the new legislative acts being passed provide a complete legal basis for holding public discussions and parliamentary hearings also in the electronic format.
Technologies are but means whereas the level of democratic
confidence in a society depends directly on how those means are
employed, the Speaker said.
According to the Speaker of the Milli Majlis, the challenges that
technological transformation poses affect every region and every
parliament; still, not all the parliaments possess the same
research and digital resources.
She proceeded to say that not one parliament could withstand alone such global challenges immune to borders as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and protection of data, and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) being the international parliamentary organisation with the broadest representation coverage in the world plays an important role of a platform in this regard.
The Speaker emphasised that the IPU ought to ensure co-operation amongst parliament in spite of differences and promote the achievement of consensus at earlier stages. The question of how artificial intelligence can make democratic institutions stronger without steepening equality and weakening human responsibility must land amongst the topmost topics for discussion in the regular dialogues organised under the aegis of the IPU.
The Speaker of Parliament also drew attention to that even though all the Member Parliaments enjoy equal rights, their researching capacities and access to technologies are not equal. Therefore, the IPU should bridge that gap by way of exchange of knowledge, connecting parliaments to universities and experts.
Speaker of the Milli Majlis Sahiba Gafarova concluded her
address by emphasising that the main force of international
parliamentary platforms lies in their diversity and that this
diversity must be employed to restore global trust.
