Speaker of the Lok Sabha Meira Kumar took the Chair of association from the outgoing President, 
Chamal Rajapaksa, Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
After assuming the Chair of the President of the Association, Meira Kumar said that the SAARC Charter is an important milestone in strengthening regional cooperation among the member countries.
She also informed the gathering about the decision taken at the meeting of the Speakers’ Council held on 9 July 2011 regarding amendment in the Rules of the Association providing for one-fifth representation of women MPs in the Delegation from each member country.
She further apprised the Delegates of the Speakers’ Council’s decision to form a Group of Women Parliamentarians consisting of the women delegates attending the Conference.
The Group shall work for the promotion of women’s cause and hold a meeting of Women Parliamentarians of SAARC countries under the overall umbrella of the Association. It was announced that Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Speaker of National Assembly of Pakistan, will be the Vice-President of the Association as Pakistan has proposed to host the next Conference of the Association of SAARC Speakers and Parliamentarians in 2012.
The Conference then took up for discussion the subject Consolidating Democracy: Strengthening Trust between Parliaments of the People for discussion.
The Lead Speakers in this Session were Dr. Fehmida Miraza, Speaker, National Assembly of Pakistan; and Abdul Raouf Ibrahimi, President of the National Assembly (Wolesi Jirga) of Afghanistan. Others who took part in the discussion were the Deputy Chairman of Rajya Sabha, Shri K. Rahman Khan; Abdulla Shahid, Speaker of the People’s Majlis of Maldives; Sheikh Fazlul Karim Salim, Member, Parliament of Bangladesh; Yashwant Sinha, Member, Lok Sabha; Sunil Hadunnetti, Member, Parliament of Sri Lanka; Laxman Prasad Ghimire, Chief Whip, Nepali Congress in the Parliament of Nepal; Maya Singh, Member, Rajya Sabha; Anisul Islam Mahmud, Member, Parliament of Bangladesh; Mrs. Nasima Neyazi, Member Wolesi Jirga; E.T. Mohammed Basheer, Member, Lok Sabha; Mangala Samaraweera, Member, Parliament of Sri Lanka; Shahnaz Wazir Ali, Member, National Assembly of Pakistan; P.J. Kurien, Member, Rajya Sabha; Kashmala Tariq, Member, National Assembly of Pakistan; Mahesh Joshi, Member, Lok Sabha; Arjun Meghwal, Member, Lok Sabha; and Nadendla Manohar, Speaker, Andhra Pradesh Legislative Assembly.
