REPORT OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL

REPORT OF THE SIXTH SESSION

OF THE COUNCIL OF THE PARLIAMENTARY UNION OF THE OIC MEMBER STATES (PUIC)

DAKAR – REPUBLIC OF SENEGAL

15 -16 MUHARRAM 1425H

7 - 8 MARCH 2004

INTRODUCTION

1.         Upon the kind invitation of His Excellency Mr. Pape Diop, Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Senegal, to hold the Third Session of the Conference of the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC) in Dakar on 9-10 March 2004, the Council of the Union held its ordinary Sixth Session in Dakar on 7-8 March 2004 in order to prepare for the proceedings of the afore-mentioned Conference.

            The proceedings of the Session of the Council started with recitation of verses from the Holy Quran.

Bureau of the Presidency of the Sixth Session of the Council

2.         At the beginning of the Session H.E. Mr. Khalifa Niasse, Representative of the National Assembly of Senegal and Vice-President of the Council chaired the meeting and His Excellency gave the floor to the Secretary General.

3.         His Excellency the Secretary General informed the august Council that the Honourable Mr. Akbar Tanjdung, Speaker of the House of the Representatives of Indonesia and President of the current Session of the Council of the Union has apologized for not attending the Session due to his preoccupation with the present election campaign in the Republic of Indonesia and that he communicated his regards to the esteemed delegations and wished complete success for the Session of the Council.

4.         The Secretary General stated further that the Rules of Procedure provide for the first Vice-President to be Acting President of the current session of the Council. Therefore, His Excellency Khalifa Niasse assumed the Presidency.

5.         The Secretary General also informed the Council that the developments in Iraq have lead to the vacancy of the position of second Vice-President of the Union’s Council and requested the Arab Group to consult among themselves to nominate someone to occupy the position. His Excellency the Representative of the Republic of Lebanon announced on behalf of the Arab Group the agreement to nominate His Excellency Dr. Abdul Ahad Jamaluddin, Representative of the People’s Council of Egypt to the Union to occupy the position of Vice-President of the Council, which has been vacant due to the absence of the Representative of Iraq. The Council approved this nomination by applause. His Excellency thanked the august Council for his election.

6.         The Honourable Mr. Khalifa Niasse requested H.E. Dr. Abdul Ahad Jamaluddin to be Acting President of this Session as an expression of honour to him in his capacity as a guest of him in the Republic of Senegal and called on His Excellency to accede to the rostrum where he assumed the Presidency of the Session.

7.         His Excellency Mr. Abdul Razzaq Al Maqrri, Representative of the People’s National Council of Algeria assumed his seat at rostrum in his capacity as Rapporteur of the Sixth Session of the Council. Their Excellencies Ambassador Ibrahim Auf Secretary General of the Union and Ambassador Mohammad Peyrovi, Assistant Secretary General represented the General Secretariat at the rostrum.

Participating Delegations

8.         The Secretary General declared that the quorum for the Council (24 states) has been completed with the presence of the delegations of 34 member Parliaments.

9.         The list of the names and designations of participating delegations are in Annex No.9.2

FIRST WORKING SESSION

10.       His Excellency Abdul Ahad Jamaluddin requested the Council to consider the Agenda and Programme of Work of the Council, the drafts of which had been prepared by the General Secretariat. The Tenth Meeting of the Executive Committee of the Union thereof made some amendments.

11.       The Council adopted its amended Agenda and Programme of Work following some discussions. (Agenda as Annexe No. 9.1).

Report of the Secretary General

12.       The Honourable President of the Council invited His Excellency the Secretary General to submit his report to the Union’s Council. The Secretary General stated that this report covers the period from the Fifth Session of the august Council in Yaounde, Camroon, January 2003, until now. He stated further that the report is one of three reports, the first of which was submitted by the Secretary General to Executive Committee and the third to the Third Session of the Union’s Conference, and therefore, the report submitted to the Council has not addressed political affairs which shall be considered by the Conference but it deals with organic matters specially the provisions of the most important subjects which the Executive Committee had previously examined in its Ninth and Tenth Meetings in Jakarta on 17-18 September 2003, and in Dakar on 5-6 March 2004 particularly those concerning the recommendations which were originally submitted earlier by the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malaysia. These are the proposals which the august Council would kindly discuss in detail when considering the reports of the Executive Committee on its Ninth and Tenth Meetings, under item 4 of the Agenda of the Council.

13.       The Secretary General added that his report to the Council contains the issue of exchanging observer status between the Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). He stated that his previous contacts with the President of the ICRC, Mr. Jakob Kellenberger in Geneva and the welcome by the Ninth Meeting of the Executive Committee to exchange observer status have led the ICRC to adopt a decision to grant the Union the observer status and invited the Secretary General to participate as an Observer in the Tenth Conference of the International Committee of the Red Cross and the Red Crescent held in Geneva. The Secretary General held a meeting upon his request with Mr. Kellenberger on 4 December 2003 and informed His Excellency that the Executive Committee of the Union welcomed exchanging the Observer status and that His Excellency would receive a formal invitation from the Honourable Mr. Pape Diop, Speaker of the National Assembly of Senegal in his capacity as President of the Third Session of the Union’s Conference to participate in its proceedings. It is expected that the Conference will adopt a formal decision to grant observer status at the Union for the ICRC. Thereafter the Cooperation Agreement proposed by them will be signed following the adoption of this decision on 9 March 2004 and given the opportunity for His Excellency to address the inaugural session of the Conference which will be honoured by the presence of His Excellency Mr. Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal. Mr. Kellenberger expressed his utmost pleasure for this important cooperation and confirmed his response to the aforementioned invitation.

14.       The Secretary General stated that the remaining subjects contained in his report to the Council are an exposition of the items of the Agenda aimed at assisting the Council to discuss them in a clear manner. He reminded the Council of the rule of geographical rotation in its Presidency among the three geographical groups, and that the Presidency of the Seventh Session of the new Council now goes to the Arab Group. The Third Session of the Conference shall designate the members of the Council. A procedural session shall be held on 10 March 2004 to elect its Bureau. He informed the Council that he has already received from the Arab Group its nomination of His Excellency Mr. Nabih Barri, Speaker of the House of Representatives of Lebanon to the Presidency and hosting of the Seventh Session of the Union’s Council.

15.       The Secretary General stated that the financial matters of the Union are briefly contained in his report. However, their examination in detail by the Council would take place when considering item 8 of the Agenda.

16.       The Secretary General concluded his report by informing the esteemed Council about the total completion of the building of the headquarters of the Union in Tehran which the Islamic Shura Majlis of Iran has allocated to the Union and made available the necessary funds to restructure the building, acquire the office furniture and provide it with the required electronic and electrical equipment. He stated that the total funds amount to about US$ 1,320,000 and that the Union is still in debt to a factory in the city of Mashad for the remainder of the price of furniture as well as the cost of interpretation equipment in the three languages for the Meeting Hall, due to a Danish company in Copenhagen which produces these equipments. The Secretary General has kindly requested the august Council to authorize him to withdraw the amount of US$150,000 to settle these outstanding obligations from the accumulated balance in the general reserve account of the Union at the Bank which amounted to US$888,000 at the end of December 2002, without having to request any amounts over and above the annual contributions of the Member States or going back once again to ask the Islamic Shura Majlis of Iran to make new allocations.

17.       The Council adopted the report of the Secretary General.

Examining the Reports and Annexes of the Ninth and Tenth Meetings of the Executive Committee

18.       There were extensive discussions in which most of the delegations participated and occupied all the time of the First Working Session. It was agreed that the Council would examine the report of the Ninth Session in Jakarta (17-18 September 2003) and the Tenth in Dakar (5-6 March 2004) together in view of the close link and interconnection between most of the subjects for which the two meetings made recommendations, and that the Council shall consider these recommendations and adopt the appropriate decisions thereon one after the other in the order contained in the report of the Council as follows:

Abbreviated Name of the Union

19.       The Council approved the recommendation of the Ninth Meeting of the Executive Committee to use the abbreviated name of the Union, which is PUIC in English and UPCI in French. There is no abbreviated name in Arabic for the Union. The full name of the Union shall be maintained as it is now and as enshrined in the Statute of the Union in the three languages.

Membership and Frequency of the Meetings of the Executive Committee

20.       Having discussed the recommendation of the Tenth Meeting of the Executive Committee concerning the frequency of convening the Committee, and after reviewing the text of Article 11-4 of the Statute which stipulates holding this committee at least once in a year, the Council decided to be satisfied with this text without the need to amend it since it permits the holding of the committee more than once in a year.

Suspension of Membership Sanction

21.       The Council discussed the amendment submitted to it by the Ninth Meeting of the Executive Committee in Jakarta and the text of the amendment, which the Tenth Meeting of the Committee proposed to introduce to the Financial Regulations of the Union by adding a new paragraph to read as follows:

“10-4-5- Upon recommendation by the Executive Committee, the Council may decide to suspend the membership of a Parliament defaulting of payment for five years. The Parliament whose membership has been suspended may regain it automatically upon payment of all its arrears and that the General Secretariat of the Union shall inform the entire member Parliaments thereon”.

22.       The Council discussed the significance of abidance of all members of the Union by regularly paying their financial contributions to the annual budget of the Union. It expressed approval of the gradual sanctions as contained in the paragraphs of Article 11 of the Financial Regulations which the Council had already approved in its Fifth Session is Yaounde in January 2003. The Council also approved to add to these Regulations the suspension of membership sanction for non-payment by a member Parliament of its mandatory contributions for five years. However the appreciation of the Council of the difficult financial conditions experienced by some member states of the Union prompts it to decide that the suspension of membership sanction shall begin one year after the date of its approval by the Council.

Disputes between Member States

23.       The extensive discussion of this recommendation by the Ninth and Tenth Meetings of the Executive Committee took the larger part of the time of the First Working Session during which the majority of delegations participated. Late in the afternoon of 7 March 2004 the Council reached a consensus on a proposal submitted by the Presidency of the Council to postpone the discussion of this subject to the Fourth Session of the Conference of the Union expected to be held after two years. The state, which wants to propose amendment to the Statute in this respect, should take the measures provided in Article 19 of the Statute.

SECOND WORKING SESSION

Activity of the Presidential Troika

24.       H.E. the President of the evening session of the Council gave the floor to His Excellency Mr. Rachid Al Madouar, Representative of the Moroccan Presidency to the Presidential Troika in which the Representatives of the former Iranian Presidency and the subsequent Senegalese Presidency participate. His Excellency stated that this Committee was formed as per a decision adopted by the Ninth Meeting of the Committee in Jakarta and mandated with the task of contacting members of Parliaments, which are totally, or partially defaulting on payment of their mandatory contributions to the annual budget of the Union. He said that the Committee held a procedural meeting in Jakarta on 18/9/2003. It also held an enlarged meeting at the headquarters of the General Secretariat in Tehran on 1-2 November 2003 during which the General Secretariat provided the Committee with all the necessary financial documents and copies of the last correspondence addressed by the Secretary General to the Speakers of the defaulting Parliaments. His Excellency added that the Presidential Troika decided to seek the assistance of the influence of Their Excellencies the Speakers of the Parliaments of the Presidential Troika to add their weight to the contacts with the Parliaments concerned. Work in the Committee proceeded in such a way that the Moroccan Presidency was assigned contacts with the Arab Group, and that the Senegalese Presidency addressed the African Group whereas the Iranian Presidency dealt with the Asian Group. His Excellency pointed out that the Committee has written its report, which contains the results of its combined efforts as regards the three geographical groups.

25.       The Council of the Union adopted the recommendation submitted to it by the Tenth Meeting of the Executive Committee, which included commending the efforts exerted by the Presidential Troika. The Council requested the Committee not to be satisfied with what has been achieved up to now but to continue deploying its commendable efforts whether in urging member Parliaments to pay their arrears, totally or partially, or convincing OIC Member States to have their respective Parliaments join the Union.

Request of the Turkish Muslim Community of Kibris to be granted the Observer Status at the Union

26.       The Council approved on the recommendation of the Ninth Meeting of the Executive Committee in Jakarta to submit a recommendation to the Third Session of the Conference of the Union to consider granting the Turkish Muslim Community in Northern Cyprus the observer status at the Union.

Exchange of Observer Status between the Union and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

27.       After listening to the Report of the Secretary General on this subject, the Council agreed on the recommendation of the Executive committee in its Ninth Meeting in Jakarta, to submit a recommendation to the Third Session of the Union’s Conference approving to exchange the status of Observer between the Union and the ICRC and the signing of the cooperation agreement between the two sides which was proposed by the Red Cross.

            H.E. the President of the Council commended the declared stand of the ICRC condemning the racist separation wall built by Israel inside the occupied Palestinian territories, in violation of the Humanitarian International Law.

Draft Staff Regulations of the Union

28.       The Council moved on to the discussion of this Draft. H.E. the President requested H.E. Mr. Rachid Al Madouar, the Representative of the Moroccan Presidency in his capacity as the Chairman of the Quadripartite Committee entrusted by the Fifth Session of the Council in Yaounde to reconsider these Staff Regulations in the light of the proposals made by member Parliaments thereon. His Excellency indicated that the Quadripartite Committee met at the PUIC General Secretariat seat on 14 and 15 December 2003 under his Chairmanship, and with the membership of representatives from the Islamic Iranian Shura Council, the People’s General Congress of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah and the General Secretariat, to examine in-depth these Regulations in the light of the only proposals that the august Saudi Shura Council has kindly forwarded. The Committee decided to include what it deemed as pertinent and appropriate observations and amended the texts of these Regulations accordingly. These amendments dealt basically with the legal powers of the Union’s Council, which the Draft had mandated to the Executive Committee. The members of the Committee signed each page of the document as well as its annexes, which are now submitted to the Sixth Session of the Council, for adoption. (Annex-9.3)

29.       Upon a proposal from His Excellency the President, the Council agreed to form a committee composed of the representatives of State of Kuwait, Republic of Lebanon, Kingdom of Morocco, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Islamic Republic of Iran and Republic of Sudan as well as the General Secretariat to reconsider the Regulations in the light of the Staff Regulations of the OIC and similar organizations and to submit its report to the Seventh Session of the Council of the Union for adoption.

Financial documents of the Union

Financial Year 2002

30.       The Council discussed in detail the final accounts of the Union for the financial year 2002 as well as the report of the Financial Control Committee (FCC). The Council approved the confirmation voiced by His Excellency the President concerning the fairness of the accounts for the financial year 2002 and that these discussions relate to accountancy techniques. Therefore, the Council decided to approve the report of the FCC on the final accounts for the fiscal year 2002 and absolve the Secretary General of the financial responsibility for this year, while observing the remarks made by the FCC as well as solving the issue of the legal status of the fixed and moveable assets offered by the Islamic Shura Majlis of Iran to the Union.

Financial Year 2003

31.       The Council took note of the main figures contained in the chapter of financial matters in the report of the Secretary General submitted to the Council in which he explained that its accounts have not been closed yet.

Estimative Budget for the Financial Year 2004

32.       The Council approved to allocate an estimative budget for the General Secretariat of the Union for the financial year 2004 as of the first of January until the end of December 2004 at the same level as the previous years i.e. at the rate of 10% of the contribution of a Member State to the annual budget of the OIC, according to the draft estimative budget proposed in the report of the Secretary General, including the estimated figures for the expenditure chapters. (Annex-9.4)

Designating two members for the Finance Control Committee (FCC)

33.       The Secretary General stated that the two year tenure of the FCC expires with the adoption by the Council of its last report and that the current session of the Council should designate two new members from among regularly paying States.

34.       The Council approved the designation of the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Republic of Lebanon to kindly name one Chartered Auditor of each who is proficient in the English language. The concerned Parliament shall bear all the expenses of the Auditor sent by it to Tehran to attend the meeting of the FCC in May 2004 to audit the accounts of the General Secretariat for the financial year 2003 in the light of the report of the local external accountant and to submit the report of the said FCC to the Seventh Session of the Council of the Union for adoption.

Designating a firm to audit the accounts of the Union for the financial year 2003

35.       The august Council consented to the proposal of the Secretary General to mandate the Iranian Chartered Audit Firm Azmoudah Karan to audit the final accounts of the Union for the financial year 2003 and authorized the Secretary General to pay its fees within the limits US$3000 after completing its task.

36.       The Council approved the request of the Secretary General to withdraw US$150,000 from the balance of the General Reserve of the Union to pay the remainder of the price of the office furniture and the interpretation equipment for the Meeting Hall at the Union’s building.

Draft Agenda of the Third Session of the Union Conference

37.       The Council reviewed the Draft Agenda and Programme of Work of the Third Session of the Conference of the Union due to be held in Dakar, 9-10 March 2004. These two drafts were prepared by the General Secretariat, and agreed upon by the Executive Committee in its Tenth Meeting, to be submitted to the Council, which in turn will submit them to the Conference.

38.       His Excellency the representative of the Shura Council of Qatar requested the Council to agree on including in the Final Declaration of the Conference the condemnation of the terrorist operation that resulted in the assassination of His Excellency the late Chechen former President in the State of Qatar.

39.       His Excellency the Secretary General requested the permission of the Council Presidency in explaining the protocol procedures during the inaugural session of the Third Session of the Conference on the morning of 9 March 2004 under the auspices of His Excellency President Abdoulaye Wade, President of the Republic of Senegal who will honour the Conference by attending and presiding its opening session and delivering his speech at its conclusion.

40.       The Council adopted the Draft Agenda and the Draft Programme of Work of the Third Session of the Conference and approved the Qatari request for including in the Final Declaration of the Conference the condemnation of this terrorist act. The Council also took note of the protocol procedures that were explained by the Secretary General, concerning the opening session of the Conference.

Re-election of the Union’s Secretary General and Assistant Secretary General

41.       His Excellency the President of the Council reviewed the letter of His Excellency Dr. Ahmad Fathi Srour, Speaker of the People’s Council of Egypt requesting the approval of the Union’s Council to consider the re-election of His Excellency Ambassador Ibrahim Ahmed Auf, Secretary General of the Union for a second term of office of four years, in accordance with Article 13 Paragraph 2 of the Union’s Statute. This request was met with applause of the august Council without discussion or objection.

42.       His Excellency the President informed the Council of the candidacy submitted by the Secretary General to the Council to consider approving the election of H.E. Ambassador Mohammed Peyrovi as Assistant Secretary General of PUIC for a second term of Office. This nomination was also met with applause by the august Council and without discussion or objection.

43.       When the Secretary General returned to the meeting hall he thanked the august Council. He then asked the President for permission to deliver a speech in which he expressed his deep sense of the great responsibility the Council entrusted to him, once again, to continue a long journey that had started in 1957 in the service of his country Egypt, during which he specialized in Arab and Middle East Affairs, then moved to serve his Islamic Ummah at the OIC before he proceeded to serve the Ummah in the field of Parliamentary diplomacy. His Excellency emphasized that such precious trust was in fact for his homeland Egypt, and pledged before Allah and all to spare no efforts for raising the banner of Islam which will definitely return to hold the torch of civilization, because Islam possesses a great secret in the Quran that is the power of Allah over the hearts of man.

            His Excellency also thanked the Council for responding to his request for the election of His Excellency Ambassador Mohamed Peyrovi as Assistant Secretary General for a second term of office.

44.       H.E. Ambassador Mohammad Peyrovi, Assistant Secretary General, delivered a speech in which he thanked Their Excellencies the heads and members of delegation for their valuable trust, and to His Excellency the Secretary General for submitting his candidacy. He promised to measure up to their expectations of him.

45.       His Excellency the President congratulated His Excellency the Secretary General and His Excellency the Assistant Secretary General, thanking them for their sincerity to the interest of our Islamic Ummah. He assured everyone that a promising future is awaiting this glorious nation despite gloomy developments because a new dawn for the Ummah will soon come without any doubt. This will only be realized by the struggle of its sons, especially the Parliamentarians who are the expressive voices of their peoples aimed at serving the sublime message advocated by our true religion so that our banners may rise high in every place.

CLOSING SESSION

46.       The Council reviewed and adopted the report and attached annexes issued at the close of its proceedings and requested the Secretary General to submit them to the Third Session of the Conference.

47.       The Council concluded its proceedings by listening to a recitation of verses from the Holy Quran. Then His Excellency the President declared the Sixth Session of the Council closed and expressed his thanks to Their Excellencies the heads and members of delegation for the effort they have exerted since the Fifth Session until the conclusion of the proceedings of this Session. His Excellency wished success to the proceedings of the Third Session of the Conference.