Maltese Speaker attends CSPOC summit in Delhi

Speaker of the Parliament of Malta Dr. Anglu Farrugia attended the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) 2026, being hosted by the Parliament of India from 14 to 16 January 2026. Also in attendance was Eleanor Scerri, an official of the Parliament of Malta.

The conference was inaugurated on Thursday by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Deputy Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Harivansh Narayan Singh joined the conference.

The 28th CSPOC is chaired by Om Birla and features 61 Speakers and Presiding Officers from 42 Commonwealth countries, along with representatives from four semi-autonomous parliaments. The conference deliberated on a range of contemporary parliamentary issues, with key focus areas including the evolving role of Speakers and Presiding Officers, technological innovation in parliamentary functioning and enhancing citizen engagement with democratic processes.

Maltese Speaker Dr. An?lu Farrugia exchanged greetings with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the 28th Conference of Speakers and Presiding Officers of the Commonwealth (CSPOC) in Delhi.

Major topics discussed in the above summit include "AI in Parliament: Balancing Innovation, Oversight and Adaptation", "Social Media and its Impact on Parliamentarians", and innovative strategies to enhance public understanding of Parliament and citizen participation beyond voting. The 27th edition of CSPOC was hosted by Uganda in January 2024 and India assumed hosting responsibilities for the 2026 edition.

>>Chanchal Chakraborty, AA