International Parliamentary body to elect its president through remote electronic secret ballot

Raman Pandit

 In the backdrop of Covid-19 pandemic, the election of new president of Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) is to take place virtually through remote electronic secret ballot in the 206th session of the governing council of the IPU. This is an extraordinary virtual session, which is being organised from 1 to 4 November 2020 in place of a full-fledged in-person Statutory Assembly of IPU due to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.

There are four candidates in the fray for the election of IPU President viz. Mr Duarte Pacheco from Portugal; Mr Muhammad Sanjrani from Pakistan; Mr Akmal Saidov from Uzbekistan and Ms Salma Ataullahjan from Canada.
The outgoing President of IPU Gabriela Cuevas Barron (MP, Mexico) had completed her term on 19 October 2020. The term of the new President of IPU will be from 2020-23.
An Indian Parliamentary Delegation led by Mr Om Birla, Speaker, Lok Sabha and consisting of Ms Poonamben Hematbhai, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha and Mr Swapan Dasgupta, Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha is participating in the above mentioned Virtual Session and will cast their votes.  Secretary General, Lok Sabha Ms Snehlata Shrivastava and Secretary General, Rajya Sabha Mr Desh Deepak Verma will also attend the Virtual Session. Dr. Ajay Kumar, Joint Secretary, Lok Sabha Secretariat is the Secretary to the Delegation.
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 organized on 30 October 2020 by the President of Senate of Philippines, the current Chair of APG. Shri Swapan Dasgupta, Member of Parliament and Secretary General, Lok Sabha Ms Snehlata Shrivastava attended the meeting.
The Governing Council is the main policy-making body of the IPU which is inter-alia 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.

The IPU is a global organization of national parliaments which began in 1889 as small group of parliamentarians, dedicated to promoting peace through parliamentary diplomacy and dialogue. Now, it has grown into a truly global organization of national parliaments and its membership inches ever closer to being universal with 179 Member Parliaments and 13 associate members.

The slogan of IPU is “For democracy. For everyone.”

The Inter-Parliamentary Union promotes democratic governance, institutions and values, working with parliaments and parliamentarians to articulate and respond to the needs and aspirations of the people. The International body of parliaments work for peace, democracy, human rights gender equality, youth empowerment and sustainable development through political dialogue, cooperation and parliamentary action.

The headquarters of Inter-Parliamentary Union are in Geneva, Switzerland. The IPU also have an office in New York, United States of America (USA).