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The chair

The chair

 

The Chair of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy is Mr Emanuelis Zingeris MP. Mr Zingeris is a parliamentarian and Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the Parliament of Lithuania.

 

Mr Zingeris is the founding Chair of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy, and was instrumental in its creation. Mr Zingeris is passionate advocate for democracy having been a member of the Lithuanian movement for independence and democracy in 1989 and 1990, and a member of the negotiation team for the restoration of independence of Lithuania. In 1992 he became the first Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the independent Parliament of Lithuania. Mr Zingeris is a Vice President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, having first been a member of the Assembly in 1993.

 

He served as Chairman of the Committee on Human and Civil Rights and Nationalities (now the Committee on Human Rights) from 1996 to 2000, and has been the Chairman of the International Commission for the Evaluation of the Crimes of the Nazi and Soviet Occupation Regimes in Lithuania. He was also the Vice-Chairperson of the PACE Committee on Culture, Science and Education. From 2000 to 2004 he was the Director of the Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum.

 

The Chair (referred to in the Articles of Association as the President) is elected for a period of three years by the Governing Council and cannot be re-elected for more than two consecutive terms of office. The Chair is a member of the Governing Council and convenes and chairs the meetings of the Governing Council and the General Assembly. The Chair represents the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy in its relations with third parties, and concludes all the necessary agreements with third parties on behalf of the Parliamentary Forum for Democracy.