France, Strasbourg, Sept. 29 / corr. Trend A.Maharramli /
The list proposed by the Committee of Ministers (CM) did not reflect the political pluralism, President of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE,) Luis Maria de Puig, said at a news conference held before the plenary meeting of the autumn session.
"The PACE couldn't change the list of candidates proposed by the Council of Europe Committee of Ministers. Majority of the parliamentarians decided to vote for them. Despite this, the European People's Party demanded to postpone the general secretary elections," Maria de Puig added.
The PACE Bureau has decided to hold elections for the post of Secretary General among the two candidates, and it will happen on Sept. 29. "The Committee of Ministers had the opportunity to submit a list of PACE, reflecting the diversity of opinions. The parliamentary representatives came to the decision to hold elections on the basis of this list. I believe that all four of them are good candidates. I hope that the new general secretary will be elected in an overwhelming majority of the PACE," Maria de Puig said.
"A list submitted by the CM during the spring and summer sessions of the organization has not been adopted because of the procedural violations of the PACE. Although we were unable to change the list, the parliamentarians voted for the election. We have decided on the normal relations between two important institutions of the Council of Europe," Chairman of PACE said.
The PACE Bureau postponed the elections until the autumn session because of disputes between PACE and Committee of Ministers.
The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers nominated Former Polish Prime Minister Vlodzimej Tymoshevic and former Norwegian Prime Minister Thorbjorn Jagland for the post of Secretary General. Former Head of the Flanders Government (Belgium) Luke van den Brande and member of the Hungarian Parliament Matias Jorsh have also been nominated for the Secretary General of the Council of Europe.
The Council of Europe accepted the candidature of Jagland and Tymoshevich in May, 2009.
Regarding the Turkish-Armenian relations the PACE President said is an important step. He welcomed all steps which are being taken to establish new relations.
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