Arab parliament consider media role to boost interaction

The general secretaries of Arab legislatures convened here Wednesday to discuss the role of media and communications in promoting effective interaction between legislatures and societies.
"This meeting tackles the important issue of cooperation between parliaments and media outlets to boost the strategic partnership between legislatures, citizens, civil society organizations and media," President of Bahraini Council of Representatives Khalifa bin Ahmad Al-Dhahrani said at the opening speech of the third session of the Association of Secretaries General of Arab Parliaments (ASGAP).
He urged Arab parliament to fully cooperate with media to ensure the smooth flow of credible and accurate parliament-related information and news.
In this regard, he underlined the importance of holding special media workshops to hasten MPs and parliament officials' communications skills, especially the use of new media tools.
Meanwhile, Secretary General of Kuwait's National Assembly Allam Al-Kandari, who doubles as president of the ASGAP said that social networking sites have led to a quantum leap in the effective communication between individuals and institutions and put an end to the monopoly of information.
Moreover, social networking sites have become an influential lobby to force institutions seriously deal with the ideas, initiatives and to respond to reports, he said.
Al-Kandari said that the conferees would elect lineup for the executive committee and reconsideration of the ASGAP foundation charter.
For his part, Secretary General of the Arab Inter-parliamentary Union (AIPU) Nour Ad-Deen Bouchkouj urged the need to keep abreast with the latest developments in the media domain to serve the parliamentary work.
The Association of Secretaries General of Arab Parliaments was established in 1994 on the sidelines of the 92nd Conference of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), held in Copenhagen.
The move came to reinforce cooperation and coordination among Arab parliamentary institutions and to exchange expertise to provide better supportive services for Arab parliaments.