Om Birla to Lead India at Inter-parliamentary Union Session on Election of New President; Pak Among Contenders

Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla will lead the Indian parliamentary delegation to the 206th session of the governing council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) where electing a new President will be top of the agenda after Pakistan has thrown its hat in the ring.

The 206th Session of the Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) will be held from 1st to 4 th November this year. This is a Virtual Session, which is being organised in place of a full-fledged in-person Statutory Assembly of IPU due to the outbreak of the pandemic.

The election of the new President of IPU will take place through remote electronic secret ballot since the outgoing President Ms. Gabriela Cuevas Barron of Mexico had completed her term on October 19. The term of the new President of IPU will be from 2020-23.

An Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Birla and consisting of LS member Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam and RS member Swapan Dasgupta will participate in the this virtual session as well as cast their votes.

Secretary General of Lok Sabha Snehlata Shrivastava and Secretary General of Rajya Sabha Desh Deepak Verma will also attend the Virtual Session. Lok Sabha Secretariat’s Dr. Ajay Kumar is the Secretary to this Delegation.

There are four candidates in the fray for the election of IPU President – Duarte Pacheco from Portugal, Muhammad Sanjrani from Pakistan, Akmal Saidov from Uzbekistan and Salma Ataullahjan from Canada.

“Prior to the scheduled Virtual Session of the Governing Council, a Virtual Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Geopolitical Group (APG) of IPU, consisting of 36 nations, was organised on 30 October 2020 by the President of Senate of Philippines, the current Chair of APG,” said a press note.

The Governing Council is the main policy-making body of the IPU which is mandated to elect the new President of IPU. Each member Parliament of IPU is represented by three parliamentarians in the Governing Council and accordingly has three votes, provided the Delegation has both men and women.

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