The 22rd Biannual Congress opened in Panama yesterday amongst criticism of being anti-democratic, by the Turkish Maritime Pilots' Association, according to Turkish Maritime News Portal www.denizhaber.com.
Today, the Congress opened by the welcoming remarks of Mr. Manuel Benitez, Deputy Administrator of Panama Canal Authority.
Keynote Speech delivered by Mr. Koji Sekimizu, Secretary-General of International Maritime Organization, in a video recording.
Election of President and 3 Vice-Presidents took place afterwards, in which, the candidates had no chance to introduce themselves, as the Secretary-General Nick Cutmore wanted to do so, President of Turkish Maritime Pilots' Association Captain Ismail Akpinar strongly criticized to Denizhaber.com reporter which is in Panama.
"This is not democratic; some people do what they want. The usual practice used to be a 5 minute speech for each candidate for President" criticised Capt. Akpınar.
At the rushed elections, Simon Pelletier of Canada elected as the successor of Captain Mike Watson of USA; in a race in which Captain Cahit Istikbal from Turkey was also existed.
See original news at:
http://www.denizhaber.com/HABER/35408/1/impa-genel-kurul-.html