Political affairs and security committee leadership elected

ISTANBUL, 2 July 2013 – The OSCE PA Committee on Political Affairs and Security has a trio of new leaders after holding three contested elections this afternoon.

Members elected Greek parliamentarian Makis Voridis to chair the committee. Azay Guliyev of Azerbaijan and Pia Kauma of Finland won elections as vice-chair and rapporteur respectively.

Voridis has been a Member of Parliament since 2007, re-elected in 2009. In November 2011 he was appointed Minister of Infrastructure, Transport and Networks.

Guliyev, a Member of Parliament since 2005, currently serves on the Permanent Committee on State Building and Legislative Policy and is the author of his country’s law on civic participation.

Kauma has been a Member of Parliament since 2011 and serves on the Constitutional Law Committee and Commerce Committee. She has participated in two election observation missions with the OSCE PA.

This is a press release issued by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. The views expressed in this press release do not necessarily reflect those of the OSCE Chairmanship, nor of all OSCE participating States.

The OSCE Parliamentary Assembly is comprised of 323 parliamentarians from 57 countries spanning, Europe, Central Asia and North America. The Assembly provides a forum for parliamentary diplomacy, monitors elections, and strengthens international cooperation to uphold commitments on political, security, economic, environmental and human rights issues.