"Parliamentarians will chose the Parliamentary Assembly`s chairman from among the members of the CSTO PA Council in an open vote for a period of three years, with the Council`s recommendation stated during a plenary session," the State Duma said in a statement.
The PA Council comprises the heads of member states` parliaments as well as members of PA permanent committees. The body is tasked with running the assembly.
Earlier in November, Leonid Kalashnikov, the deputy chair of the State Duma Foreign Affairs Committee, said that Russia would propose lower house speaker Vyacheslav Volodin for the post. Volodin`s predecessor Sergey Naryshkin also served as the CSTO PA chair. The current agenda of the current PA plenary session includes a number of organizational issues and legislative proposals, according to the State Duma.
The proposals include improving laws on migrant pensions and countering human trafficking. The CSTO is a military alliance comprising Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The organization was set up by former Soviet states in 1992 shortly after the collapse of the USSR with the aim to facilitate cooperation and strengthen security in the region.
Serbia and Afghanistan have observer status at the CSTO Parliamentary Assembly. The CSTO PA comprises 79 lawmakers from member states and has three permanent committees that deal with social, economic and legal issues, political issues and international cooperation and security.
More about:
