Their meeting took place on the sidelines of the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress in St Petersburg.
Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko had a meeting with Chairperson of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan Tanzila Narbaeva on the sidelines of the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress.
Valentina Matvienko congratulated the head of the Senate on the successful constitutional reform. The results of the referendum proved that the people of Uzbekistan support the political course of President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, she stressed. According to the Speaker, the international observation missions from the CIS, SCO and parliaments recognised the constitutional referendum in Uzbekistan as open, transparent and democratic.
She noted that, in line with the updated Constitution, the President of Uzbekistan had issued an executive order on holding early presidential elections in the country, scheduled for 9 July. Valentina Matvienko expressed confidence that the efforts to prepare for and conduct the election campaign would be well organised. “For our part, we will traditionally provide all possible assistance to ensure that citizens of Uzbekistan who are in Russia will be able to take part in the voting without leaving for their home country,” she said.
“The trust-based dialogue between our presidents is a valuable resource and the key to success. Our interparliamentary cooperation is actively developing in line with agreements reached at the highest level,” the Speaker believes.
Valentina Matvienko said that preparations for the 8th session of the InterParliamentary Committee had started. “We are expecting a delegation of senators from the Oliy Majlis of the Republic of Uzbekistan to visit us on 4–7 June. There is a wide range of issues to be discussed: from trade and economic to cultural and humanitarian issues. We decided to hold it in two stages, both in Moscow and in Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan. I'm sure that it will give an additional impetus to inter-regional cooperation.”
The Speaker expressed gratitude to Tanzila Narbaeva for the hospitality during the Interparliamentary Assembly of Member Nations of the Commonwealth of Independent States (IPA CIS) in Samarkand, which took place in Uzbekistan for the first time on the 30th anniversary of the organisation.
Tanzila Narbaeva, in turn, thanked the Speaker of the Federation Council for the invitation to take part in the 10th Nevsky International Ecological Congress. “This is the most important environmental forum. It shows that we parliamentarians should not stand aside of such a serious matter. It concerns the right to life of all mankind,” she said.
Tanzila Narbaeva said the events held at the IPA CIS platform help parliamentarians in the Commonwealth in their law-making activities in a wide range of areas. “It is here that we find a common language with our colleagues.”
First Deputy Chair of the Federation Council Committee on Foreign Affairs Andrey Denisov and Secretary General − Head of the Secretariat of the IPA CIS Council Dmitriy Kobitskiy also attended the meeting.