19 May 2011, 11:15
On Thursday, Volodymyr Lytvyn, Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, opened the Extraordinary Session of the Bureau of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Parliamentary Assembly dedicated to the election of the next PABSEC Secretary General.
"I expect our work to be efficient and support successful organization of the PABSEC General Assembly session in Kyiv," PABSEC President V.Lytvyn stated.
As reported, the next PABSEC General Assembly on the topic "Legislative Support of Transition to Green Economy" will be held in Kyiv on June 30-July 2, 2011. Participants of the Assembly will discuss the use of genetically modified organisms, legislative backing of scientific-and-technological advance, and observance of sanitary regulations of the World Health Organization in the BSEC member states. Moreover, a new PABSEC Secretary General will be elected.
V.Lytvyn informed that apart from PABSEC Bureau members, leaders of the national delegations and chairpersons of subject committees were invited to the session. He attaches great importance to the consultations on personnel affairs "to reach an acceptable compromise in the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect characteristic of our Assembly."
According to the PABSEC Rules of Procedure, its Secretary General has the status of an international civil servant, and is elected at the General Assembly session on the proposal of the PABSEC Bureau for three years, being supported by at least half of the national delegations (6 out of 12) and the majority of the Assembly members (at least 39 out of 76). National delegations introduce their candidacies to the Assembly International Secretariat not later than half a year before the session of the General Assembly.
The Chairman of The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine also reminded of the requirements for the candidates running for Assembly Secretary General.
If a new Secretary General is not elected, the incumbent Head of the PABSEC International Secretariat stays in office until the next session of the General Assembly.
V.Lytvyn informed that Moldavian, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Greek and Turkish national delegations submitted their applications to the PABSEC International Secretariat on time. However, Bulgaria has later withdrawn its candidate.
"Thus, there are five candidates so far. We need consultations and coordination of our standpoints to achieve positive results," he stated.