PACE declares ‘no confidence’ in President Agramunt

By Hajer M'tiri

PARIS (AA) - The Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) resolved on Friday that it "has no confidence" in President Pedro Agramunt following his recent "unauthorized" visit to Syria and meeting with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

The PACE bureau said in a statement that it decided Agramunt was "not authorised to undertake any official visits, attend any meetings or make any public statements on behalf of the Assembly in his capacity as President".

Agramunt visited Syria on March 20 and 21 along with members of Russia’s State Duma -- lower house of parliament -- and some PACE representatives.

They all had a meeting with Assad and held talks during the joint meeting of the international committees of the Russian and Syrian parliaments.

Agramunt said at the time that he had travelled to Syria as a private individual rather than as PACE President.

"The President chose not to attend the Bureau today, and has not presented a letter of resignation. As a result, and in the context of the current Rules of Procedure under which the President cannot be compelled to resign, the Bureau felt it necessary to take these steps,” said Sir Roger Gale, senior vice-president of the Assembly, after chairing the Bureau meeting.

“The standards and principles of the Parliamentary Assembly are more important than any individual member, and the integrity of our Assembly must be upheld," he added.