National Assembly to get assistance from Indian parliament |04 July 2018

The National Assembly secretariat will benefit from technical assistance and capacity building from Rajah Sabha, the Upper House of the Indian parliament.

It was President Danny Faure who asked for the assistance during his meeting with the Indian Vice-President Mappavarapa Venkaiah Naidu, during his first State visit to India last month. Vice-President Naidu is the honourable speaker of the upper house of the Indian parliament.

The Clerk of the National Assembly, Jutta Alexis, who was present during the meeting, said training and technical support will empower the staff and the secretariat to be in touch with new developments in parliamentary proceedings worldwide.

Ms Alexis added that the meeting also paved the way, through the secretariat, for exchange links between the Indian parliament and the National Assembly.

Ms Alexis also noted that the demand made by President Faure came at an opportune time as the National Assembly secretariat and the Indian high commission in Seychelles were in discussion phase for possible parliamentary training and technical assistance from the Indian government.

“I am in the process of writing a report on the matter and I will do the follow-up and formalise the demand made by  President Faure. The fact that he initiated the assistance, it will help to speed up the proceedings that will enable us to get some training and to develop ourselves in other areas of parliament,” said Ms Alexis.

During the presidential visit, Ms Alexis said she had the possibility to attend most of the exchange meetings President Faure had with the Indian authorities and she saw it personally as a privilege for the secretariat to be invited to form part of the presidential delegation.

She added that the invitation symbolises the cordial relations that exist between the National Assembly and the executive.

“I was very happy, during the meeting with Vice-President Naidu, to hear the praises of President Faure on the work of the National Assembly and the secretariat and it was an honour for me to have been present to hear that,” Ms Alexis said.