The event is expected to be attended by more than 200 delegates from 23 countries, including both regional and international organisations.

The parliaments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates will become full members of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), which is an international forum consisting of representatives of the national parliaments of the Euro-Mediterranean region.

The Gulf parliaments will acquire a formalised place in PAM’s 16th plenary session on March 9th to 10th. The meeting will be held in Dubai under the presidency of Italian MP Gennaro Migliore and hosted by the UAE’s Federal National Council (FNC), according to PAM.

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The international forum aims to support the work of international bodies whose roles are to foster security, stability and peace in the Euro-Mediterranean region, the report added.

With Qatar’s Shura Council and the UAE’s FNC joining PAM, the forum, which enjoys observer status at the United Nations General Assembly, will meet in the Arabian Peninsula for the first time since it assumed establishment in 2005, reports said.

“Our vision is that peace, dialogue and cooperation in our Mediterranean region isn’t divisible, and the Gulf region isn’t far away from us,” Migliore noted, according to the report.

In the past few years, both the Shura Council and the FNC “have been very active in all the activities of the assembly, especially regarding initiatives on counterterrorism and de-radicalization, as well as women’s empowerment and energy transition,” he continued.

The agenda for the event comprises of topics on developments in the Middle East and North Africa—including Libya, Syria, Lebanon and Western Sahara. Other areas of discussion include activities in Europe, such as Ukraine, Bosnia and Herzegovina as will the topic of water scarcity, said Migliore.

Shura Council and PAM

In November 2021, the Shura Council application for permanent membership in PAM was accepted, which was followed by a request for the approval by the parliamentary assembly to be held during the first quarter of 2022, reports said.

This came at the conclusion of the PAM Bureau Meeting, which was held in Rome and saw the participation of the Shura Council.

Abdullah bin Nasser bin Turki Al-Subaie, member of the Shura Council, reiterated the council’s eagerness to boost joint cooperation with the PAM upon their official adhesion to the forum.

Shura Council and their recent efforts

In October 2021, the Shura Council held its first ever elections stamping the launch of a new wave in the Gulf country’s legislative history and what was described to be a “small but important step toward democratic governance.”

Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al-Thani, President of the Qatar Olympic Committee and brother of the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani, denoted the elections as “another stop in the history of the comprehensive Qatari renaissance.”

With the inclusion of Qatar’s legislative body in PAM, Shura Council is seen as expanding its efforts outside the limits of its borders to partake in international affairs.