Bahrain : A group of Shura members today participated in a vrtual meeting with former UK House of Commons member and former Shadow Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Caroline Flint, and former UK MP and former Cabinet Minister in the Scottish Government, Margaret Curran.
They discussed the best parliamentary practices, and ways to enhance investment in modern technology to support parliamentary work, especially amid the challenges imposed by the pandemic and accelerated shift towards virtual sessions and meetings.
Shura Council members stressed the need to use modern technology to ensure the continuity of parliamentary work and strengthen confidence between the Legislative branch and society, noting that the growing use of software and electronic systems in legislative work requires strengthening cybersecurity to protect information and data, maintain confidentiality and ensure that databases are not hacked.
They highlighted the Shura Council’s experience in electronic transformation, and overcoming the challenges of the pandemic, by holding sessions and committee meetings remotely, in a way that ensured the continuity of legislative work.
They praised the strong relations between the Kingdom of Bahrain and the United Kingdom, stressing the Shura Council’s keenness to strengthen parliamentary relations, exchange expertise and experience, and develop common practices in parliamentary work.
Caroline Flint and Margaret Curran shed light on a number of challenges facing legislative work following the spread of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Caroline Flint stressed the need to continue building bridges of trust between lawmakers and peoples, noting that joint and direct meetings between parliamentarians pave the way for benefiting from parliamentary experiences and building on the best parliamentary practices.
She indicated that the use of modern technology in parliamentary work will be important even in the post-pandemic period, stressing the importance of continuing to achieve progress and development in the optimal use of electronic tools and methods that support legislative councils in performing their work during the pandemic.
Margaret Curran highlighted the importance of exchanged visits between members of the Shura Council and the British Parliament, given their role in strengthening ties between the two friendly countries, including the parliamentary ones.
The meeting is part of the parliamentary support programme organised by the Shura Council’s Secretariat-General year-round.
