The PUIC Member Parliaments raised the question of non-issuance of visas to some IPU Member Parliaments. The former expressed official protest against action taken by Canadian authorities which barred some parliamentarians from participating in the 127th IPU Assembly. In their consultative Meeting, held on the sidelines of the IPU proceedings, the PUIC Member Parliaments Considered the Canadian authorities action as a precedent that deprives IPU Member Parliaments of their right to attend these international parliamentary meetings.
The PUIC Member Parliaments also stressed the necessity to avoid holding IPU assemblies simultaneously with Muslim religious festivities and occasions.
In response to the action of the Islamic Group towards the above-mentioned matter, the IPU Governing Council’s (191) Session issued a statement in which it reaffirmed that IPU Assemblies can only be held if all IPU Members and Observers are invited, and their representatives are certain to be granted visas required for participation.
In his speech at the Inaugural Ceremony of the 127th Assembly, the IPU President His Excellency Mr. Abdul Wahid Radi expressed much regret that not all the parliamentarians who had registered to attend the Assembly in Quebec have been successful in obtaining entry visas, in contravention to the terms of the agreement that was signed. He said that he wanted to firmly underscore the IPU’s fundamental principle that IPU Assemblies need to provide a space where all Member Parliaments and their delegates, without exception, can meet and engage with one another. He added that what has just happened is an unfortunate and regrettable turn in events, one that is not only serious but unprecedented in the history of the Organization, which spans 123 years, and were this to set a precedent, the organization would be changed forever.
The PUIC Secretary General Prof. Mahmud Erol KILIC sent a letter to H.E. the IPU Secretary General Mr. Andres B. Johnsson in which he conveyed to him the decisions of the Consultative Meeting of the PUIC Member Parliaments concerning the visa issue. Mr. Johnsson sent a reply message, dated 5/11/2012 explaining the IPU position on the action of the Canadian authorities which contravened the terms of the agreement signed between the IPU and the Canadian Parliamentary authorities.