Strasbourg - At its session in January 2012, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be electing the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights and PACE President, head of the Russian delegation to the PACE Konstantin Kosachyov told journalists.
The term of office of the current CoE Commissioner, Thomas Hammarberg, expires in March 2012, he recalled. "The procedure of nominating candidates for this office which is carried out by the national governments of the CoE member states, must be completed before October 31," Kosachyov said.
Only one candidate – PACE member Christos Pourgourides from Cyprus – has been nominated so far, he said.
Also, the term of office of the current PACE President, Turkish representative Mevlut Cavusoglu, expires in January, Kosachyov recalled. "Each of the five political groups (factions) of the Assembly will have the right to nominate by turn its candidate for the Assembly President for a two-year term," Kosachyov said.
Now is the turn of the European People’s Party to nominate its candidate, he said. "Last Monday they voted on two candidatures – head of the French delegation to the Assembly Jean-Claude Mignon and Estonian representative Andres Herkel. The overwhelming majority of votes was given for the French delegate, who is due to undergo the procedure of approval by the Assembly President at the January session," Kosachyov said.
