58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association(CPA) ends in Colombo, South Africa to host the next CPA I Srimal Fernando I www.thediplomaticsociety.co.za

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58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association(CPA) ends in Colombo, South Africa to host the next CPA

By  Srimal Fernando,  Asia Correspondent

The 58th Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 7th to 15th September 2012. This was the third time Sri Lanka hosted a Commonwealth Parliamentary conference. Earlier Sri Lanka hosted the CPA in 1974 and in 1995.

The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference presented delegates from 54 member states opportunities of engagement with influential leaders and to discuss ways to make the common wealth more applicable for the future. A large number of enthusiastic delegates attended, breathing a new life to the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) body and gave it a new mandate to promote its activities.

The inauguration ceremony of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) was ceremonially inaugurated on 11th September, 2012  at  the  “Nelum Pokuna” also  known as  “Lotus Pond”  theater by  His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa  the President  of Sri Lanka .

At the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA)  inauguration ceremony  the Speaker of the House, Hon Chamal Rajapaksa Chairperson of CPA, Rt. Sir Alen Hasehurstsels MP, a member of the United Kingdom House of Commons, CPA Secretary General, Dr. William F. Shija and Commonwealth Secretary General, Kamalesh Sharma were the well known distinguished guests present among 700 delegates.

The  discussions  of the 58th  Commonwealth Parliamentary  Association  (CPA ) took place from 12th  September 2012 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Cultural Hall (BMICH ) .  On the day which was set apart for an outing, CPA Secretary General Dr. William F Shija with nearly 100 delegates visited towns of Jaffna and Kilinochchi in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka.

During the CPA conference the member states discussed ways to make the common wealth more relevant for the future. The Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) conference  gave an opportunity to many delegates from member states to hold meetings on the sidelines and discuss substantive issues of mutual interest.

The  CPA  conference  also created  a  space and consensus for the  host nation  to  make preparations to hold the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM ) in  March  2013. The 58th CPA  conference concluded  with South Africa  being  proposed to host the  59th Commonwealth Parliamentary  Association  (CPA)  conference in August  next year.

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