Mushahid to lead Pakistan Parliamentary Delegation to Azerbaijan

Date : October 06, 2013

Islamabad (October 6): The Chairman, Senate Defence Committee, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed, is leading a 15-member Parliamentary Delegation, representing 6 political parties from ruling and opposition parties, to Azerbaijan to observe and monitor the Presidential elections there on October 9. The delegation will be in Azerbaijan during October 7-11.

Talking to media, Senator Mushahid Hussain said: 'the team has been invited by the Election Commission of Azerbaijan given the close brotherly bond between Pakistan and Azerbaijan plus the fact that this is in recognition of the fact that Pakistan today is a vibrant and dynamic democracy, probably, the freest democracy in the Muslim World'. Azerbaijan, strategically located in the Caucasus close to Iran and Turkey, is a member of the OIC.

Earlier, Senator Mushahid participated in two similar election observation missions in Cambodia and Mexico in his capacity as Secretary General of CAPDI - the Centrist Asia Pacific Democrats International, which brings together civil society organisations and political parties from 26 different countries.

On Saturday, at a meeting held at Parliament House under the auspices of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, the Parliamentary Delegation was provided a briefing on Azerbaijan by the Foreign Secretary and his team regarding Pakistan-Azerbaijan relations. During the meeting, Senator Mushahid Hussain Sayed and Senator Dr Jehangir Badr jointly proposed a resolution thanking Azerbaijan for its consistent support to the Kashmiri right of self-determination, and reaffirming, on behalf of the people and parliament of Pakistan, support for Azerbaijan's principled position on the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh, territory of Azerbaijan occupied by Armenia as a result of military aggression, and supporting the implementation of UN resolutions in this regard. The resolution, seconded by Senator Tahir Mashaddi, was unanimously passed.

The Pakistan Parliamentary Delegation is among over 100 international observers invited to Azerbaijan for monitoring their Presidential Elections, but this will be the single largest contingent from any one country. It may be added that Senator Mushahid Hussain led the first-ever Pakistan Parliamentary Delegation to Azerbaijan in 2006, and since then, there have been a number of visits between the two countries.

The Parliamentary Delegation includes Senator Sabir Ali Baloch, Deputy Chairman of the Senate, Mrs Tahira Aurangzeb, MNA, Senator Haji Adeel, Senator Dr Jehangir Badr, Senator Tahir Hussain Mashaddi, Senator Haji GHULAM Ali, Senator Sughra Imam, plus officials and a small media team.