Duarte Pacheco, Portugal MP, elected as new President of Inter Parliamentary Union

Duarte Pacheco, Portugal Member of Parliament, has been elected as a new President of IPU- Inter Parliamentary Union from 2020-2023.

Lock Sabha Speaker, Om Birla extended his wishes to Duarte Pacheco for his election as a President of Inter Parliamentary Union and added that his beliefs in ideals of democracy, consensus building, rule of law, and multilateralism will help in building a more focused and stronger IPU with the changing times.

The election process for the selection of IPU President took place through remote electronic secret ballot, with a window of 24 hours for casting votes. During the election, Uruguay’s Beatriz Argimon and Laurence Fehlmann Rielle from Switzerland have also been unanimously elected to the Executive committee of IPU.

Heartfelt greetings to H.E. Mr. Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, on his birthday. I laud your contribution in strengthening the relationship between our nations.

— Lok Sabha Speaker (@loksabhaspeaker) November 3, 2020

What is the role of IPU President?

The President of Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU) is the political head of the organization who directs the activities, chairs meetings as well as acts as the representative of IPU at global events and gatherings.

IPU President is elected for one mandate of 3 years only by the IPU’s governing council which is the decision making and administrative body.

IPU Governing Council resumes its business:

The 206th session of Inter Parliamentary Union’s governing council has been held virtually from November 1 to November 4, 2020, for the election of IPU President as well as to take decisions and further discuss pressing issues related to the functioning of the organization. It includes the adoption of the IPU budget and programme of work for 2021.

The Indian Parliamentary delegation led by Om Birla, Lok Sabha Speaker, and consisting of Members of Parliament Swapan Dasgupta and Poonamben Hematbhai Maadam also attended the meeting and cast their votes through a secure digital voting mechanism.

About Inter Parliamentary Union:

IPU which is headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland is a global organization of national parliaments. IPU was founded in 1889 as the first multilateral political organization in the world with the purpose of encouraging dialogues and cooperation between all the nations.

Inter Parliamentary Union promotes democracy and helps parliament in becoming younger, stronger, gender-balanced, and more diverse. Currently, IPU comprises 13 regional parliamentary bodies and 179 national member parliaments.