PACE Holds 2nd Vote On Candidature Of Russia's Slutskiy For Vice Speaker - Statement

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is holding on Wednesday a second round of vote on the candidature of Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutskiy for the post of the assembly's deputy speaker

STRASBOURG (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 26th June, 2019) The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) is holding on Wednesday a second round of vote on the candidature of Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutskiy for the post of the assembly's deputy speaker.

The assembly turned down Slutskiy's candidature in a 101-159 vote by secret ballot earlier in the week.

"Mr Slutskiy not having obtained an absolute majority of the representatives of the Assembly, a second round of voting is held today 26 June from 10 am [08:00 GMT] to 1 pm and from 3.30 pm to 6 pm, where an absolute majority of the votes cast, with more than half the number of representatives having voted, is required," the PACE statement said.

Earlier this week, PACE officially invited the Russian delegation to participate in its June session, though the possibility of challenging the Russian delegation's credentials remained in place.

PACE President Liliane Maury Pasquier said that the Russian delegation would be able to participate in the work of the assembly even after some PACE members challenged the delegation's credentials.

The Kremlin hailed PACE's invitation as a positive thing and a victory of common sense. Ukraine, which advocated for Russia's ban in the assembly, however, decided to recall its envoy to the Council of Europe following PACE's decision.

Russia was barred from voting in PACE after Crimea's reunification with the country in 2014. The Russian delegation to PACE has not been renewing its credentials since 2016, and Moscow suspended its annual contributions to the Council of Europe in 2017.