India to host largest-ever Commonwealth Speakers' conference in Delhi

India is hosting the 28th CSPOC, the largest ever with 42 confirmed nations. PM Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference in New Delhi, which will be chaired by Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and focus on shared parliamentary values.

The 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth, being hosted by the Parliament of India, will be the largest CSPOC in terms of participation.

PM to Inaugurate Largest-Ever Commonwealth Speakers' Conference

Addressing a press conference here, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla said that the conference, to be held from January 14 to 16, will discuss shared parliamentary values, democratic governance and institutional cooperation. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the conference on January 15 in the Central Hall of Samvidhan Sadan, Parliament House Complex. Speaker Om Birla is the Chairperson of the Conference. "The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth, being hosted by India, will have the largest participation," Birla said.

Digital-First Approach and Participation

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. Answering queries, he said at least 42 countries have confirmed their participation in the conference.

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 28th edition of CSPOC to be held in India in 2026.

Agenda and Key Discussions

The Standing Committee meeting, which oversees CSPOC activities, will be held on January 14. Lok Sabha Speaker will chair the meeting of the CSPOC Standing Committee to be held at the Red Fort in Delhi. The members of the Standing Committee will be taken around the Red Fort and a light and sound programme has been arranged for them.

The Lok Sabha Speaker will host a dinner in their honour at the Red Fort premises at 7.30 pm.

After inaugurating the conference, PM Modi will interact informally with the Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth.

The topics to be discussed at the conference include 'AI in Parliament: Balancing innovation, Oversight and Adaptation', 'Social media and its impact on Parliamentarians', 'Innovative strategies to enhance public understanding of Parliament and citizen's participation beyond voting' and 'Security, Health and wellbeing of Members of Parliament and parliamentary officials'.

The Special Plenary Session will discuss the role of Speakers and Presiding Officers in maintaining strong democratic institutions. Lok Sabha Speaker will deliver keynot address.

Lok Sabha Speaker has been the Chairperson of CSPOC since the end of 27th CSPOC in Uganda in January 2024. He will hand over the Chair to Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Speaker of the UK House of Commons.

About the CSPOC

The Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Commonwealth (CSPOC) was created in 1969 as an initiative of then Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, Lucien Lamoureux. Since its inception, Canada has provided CSPOC with a secretariat to support its activities.

CSPOC brings together Speakers and Presiding Officers of 53 national parliaments of sovereign states of the Commonwealth. CSPOC is an independent group with no formal affiliation with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA), the Commonwealth Secretariat or the Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM). However, its membership is the same as that of CPA.

The conference aims to maintain, foster, and encourage impartiality and fairness on the part of Speakers and Presiding Officers of Parliaments. It also seeks to promote knowledge and understanding of parliamentary democracy in its various forms and to develop parliamentary institutions.

CSPOC operates on a two-year cycle, holding a conference of the full membership every two years, usually early in January, and a meeting of the Standing Committee at the same time in the intervening year.

India's Role and Special Invitees

The decision to host the 28th CSPOC in India was taken, in consultation with MEA, during the 25th CSPOC held in Ottawa in January 2020. Om Birla had led the Indian Parliamentary Delegation (IPD) to this conference.

President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), Dr Tulia Ackson, and Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, Dr Christopher Kalila, are among the special invitees to the Delhi conference.

As part of the CSPOC tradition, a post-conference tour to Jaipur will be organised for the visiting delegates on January 17 and 18.

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