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A message from the President
Dear Colleagues
In writing to wish you all the best for the occidental New Year, I would like to take the opportunity to advise you of my plans in connection with the position of the Association's President, which I currently have the honour and privilege to hold. Members may recall that I was elected to the position at our meetings in Santiago de Chile in April 2003.
Under our Constitution, my term of office would normally expire at the meetings expected to be held in May 2006. However, I have decided that it would be in the best interests of the ASGP if I submitted my resignation from office (while hopefully still remaining an active member of the Association) during the meetings scheduled to be held in Geneva in the middle of October this year.
The reasons for my decision are as follows:
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If I served my full term of office, I and both Vice-Presidents of the Association would retire at the one time. (We have amended the rules so that former Presidents of the Association are honorary members of the Executive Committee, and while I would treasure my honorary membership, I would not expect to attend meetings unless specially invited to do so by the current Committee). This means that there would lack of continuity within the Executive Committee in relation to its three most senior positions.
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When the vacancy occurred in the Association's presidency which led to my eventual election, our rules were framed so that no vacancies to the Executive Committee were filled at the Geneva meetings. We have since changed this provision. However, from September 2002, as I was the only Vice-President, I had the opportunity to serve as Acting President until elected six months later. In effect, I have had the opportunity to serve in the capacity of President for three years from September 2002.
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The Executive Committee has expressed a general preference that members of the Committee are chosen from those who are not hosting our meetings. The sentiment is that where there are contested elections, our members are placed in a position of potential discourtesy to our host if they do not support him or her in the election. There is no host Parliament in connection with the meetings in Geneva , and a President elected there would be chosen on "neutral ground". The President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union is elected at the Geneva meetings and for us to elect our President there would align our practices of the IPU . All members would be free to offer themselves for election.
I would like to remain as President until I present the report to the IPU Executive Committee, which has now become standard practice, and for the initial meetings at Geneva in October this year. My resignation would be submitted during the meetings, so that a successor can be elected there.
I trust that that you understand the reasons for my intended action, and I look forward to seeing you at one of our meetings in the future.
Sincerely
Ian Harris
January 2005
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