| The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on Tuesday approved Palestine’s application to become a “partner for democracy” within the council. | |
| The resolution was accepted in the PACE general assembly with 110 in favor, five against and 10 abstentions. The PACE Political Affairs Committee last month approved a report and a draft resolution that foresees the granting of democratic partnership status to the Palestinian National Council (PNC). The report was discussed on Tuesday and approved by the general assembly. The granting of the status was considered a significant development by the report in the way that it would promote the “development of democracy, a legal state and protection of human rights on Palestinian territory.” The debate over the application saw a heated exchange between Turkish and Israeli delegates, with the delegates from Turkey accusing Israel of continuing to suffocate Palestinians in the occupied territories. The partnership status devised in 2009 enables neighboring non-member countries to join the sessions with a representative committee to make use of the experience of the Council of Europe in the field of democracy. They will be able to participate in all discussions with the exception of voting privileges. The PNC will appoint a delegation of three representatives and three substitutes to PACE. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is expected to deliver a speech to the PACE general assembly on Thursday. |
Palestine gets partner for democracy status at PACE meeting
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