NIAMEY, Aug. 24 (Xinhua) -- The first session of the Parliament of the Confederation of Sahel States (AES) opened Monday at the Mahatma Gandhi International Conference Center in Niamey, with the official installation of confederal lawmakers from Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali.
The solemn ceremony was chaired by Ousmane Bougouma, president of the Legislative Assembly of the People of Burkina Faso and president of the inaugural session of the AES Confederal Parliament.
A total of 45 confederal lawmakers, including 15 from each of the three member states, make up the parliament, according to the Niger News Agency (ANP).
The ceremony was attended by Nigerien Prime Minister Ali Mahaman Lamine Zeine, representing the president of the Republic, as well as senior officials from the parliamentary institutions of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. The parliaments of Chad and Togo also attended as invited parliaments.
In a message read to the confederal lawmakers by Bougouma, Burkina Faso's President and current chairman of the AES Ibrahim Traore called on them to "place the general interest of the AES above partisan calculations of nations."
"The path we have embarked upon requires unity of action, a clear vision and bold decisions ... under all circumstances," he said, urging the lawmakers to "take their rightful place and examine in depth the issues on the agenda."
The first session, running from Aug. 24 to 29 in Niamey, aims to lay the foundations for strengthened parliamentary cooperation among the three member states of the AES.
Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger first established a mutual defense alliance in 2023 before announcing the creation of a confederation in July 2024. They formally withdrew from the Economic Community of West African States in January 2025. ■