New Delhi [India], January 14 : Parliament premises is geared up to host the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC), which will be formally inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow.
The conference will be chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. It will deliberate on a wide range of contemporary parliamentary issues, including the role of Speakers and Presiding Officers in maintaining strong democratic institutions, the use of Artificial Intelligence in parliamentary functioning, the impact of social media on Members of Parliament, innovative strategies to enhance public understanding of Parliament, and civic engagement beyond voting.
CSPOC is being hosted by the Parliament of India from January 14 to 16, and it will be the largest in terms of participation.
Addressing a press conference on Monday, Speaker Om Birla said that the conference will discuss shared parliamentary values, democratic governance and institutional cooperation.
"The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, being hosted by India, will have the largest participation," Birla said.
He said that work related to the conference has been done online, and no paper has been used.The Speaker said an app has been developed to enable all aspects of conference coordination, facilitation and information dissemination.
A web-based event management system has been developed.In response to queries, he said there will be no participation from Pakistan and that Bangladesh does not have a Speaker at present, with general elections scheduled for next month.
He said the conference will be attended by 61 Speakers and Presiding Officers from Commonwealth countries and semi-autonomous parliaments, including the Presidents of the IPU and the CPA.
In this regard, it will be the largest CSPOC conference in the history of the forum.
The 27th edition of CSPOC was hosted by Uganda in January 2024, and Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha Harivansh and Leader of IPD to that conference, had taken over from Uganda as the host of the 28th edition of CSPOC to be held in India in 2026.