Leadership of Rada's delegation at PACE to be elected on January 20, says MP Popesku

The leadership of the permanent delegation of the Verkhovna Rada to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will be elected on January 20 on the eve of the PACE session in Strasbourg, according to Regions Party's MP Ivan Popesku, who is a member of the current delegation and was a head of the previous delegation.

He said that Ukraine's delegation would go to a PACE session, which starts on January 21. "As a rule, a meeting of our delegation is held in Strasbourg prior to the start of the PACE session. This time, we will have an opportunity to hold a meeting and elect the leadership of the delegation as well as to distribute the committees. I believe that on Sunday (January 20) we will choose the leadership. And one of the deputies of the delegation head will be a representative of the opposition," the Regions Party's press service quoted him as saying.

According to the lawmaker, Ukraine has twelve votes in the PACE, and if a member of the permanent delegation cannot take part in the assembly's meeting, he or she is replaced by their deputies, representatives of the same faction. "Our delegation is made up of twelve people: five members of the Party of Regions, three of the Batkivschyna, one of the UDAR Party, one of the Svoboda Party and one of the Communist Party. These twelve members will take part in the constituent meeting. They will go to Strasbourg as instructed by the chairman of the Verkhovna Rada," Popesku said.