ISLAMABAD: For the first time Pakistan’s minister for Commerce and Investments Syed Naveed Qamar on Sunday was elected as President of Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA).
Naveed Qamar defeated Dip. Margarita Stobilzer, a very senior Member Parliament of the host county, Argentina by an overwhelming majority of over 90% of the votes, in the election held in Buenos Aires Argentina, said a message received here on Sunday.
According to officials at the Ministry of Commerce (MoC), in the election 133 elected members exercised their right to vote, out of 140 parliaments around the globe and elected Syed Naveed Qamar as its new President.
It is important to mention here that Syed Naveed Qamar is the first Pakistani Member of the Parliament who is elected as president of PGA for the term of two years (2023-2024).
He is a longest serving parliamentarian who had joined in 1991 along with former prime minister Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto and some other PPP members. Naveed Qamar is also a Nishan-e-Pakistan recipient.
A number of local and foreign parliamentarians, including Speaker National Assembly, Raja Pervez Ashraf, Chairman Senate, Muhammad Sadiq Sanjrani congratulated the Minister for holding such an important International position and hoped that Naveed Qamar would play his role for promoting and protecting human rights, democracy and peace in the world.
Former member PGA and leader of PPP, in his tweet said “Heartiest congratulations on your election. Hope during your presidency the Parliamentarians for Global Action will further strengthen parliamentary platforms for climate action and revisiting death penalty”.
PGA, is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of approximately 1,300 legislators in over 140 elected parliaments around the globe.
Which contributes to creating an enabling environment for positive changes, especially through activities that facilitate connections between civil society and parliamentarians, as well as building bridges between domestic and international policy-makers.
It was established in 1978 in Washington, D.C., by a group of concerned parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems.
PGA operates under the political direction of the Executive Committee and the International Council, with the technical and legal assistance of the Secretariat based in New York and The Hague.
Naveed Qamar, while commenting on the election said it was a “great honor” for him to be elected as the President of the PGA and that it was also an outcome of the current government’s diplomatic efforts.
Naveed Qamar pledged to promote peace, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, gender equality, climate and population issues by informing, convening, and mobilizing parliamentarians to realize these goals.
