Reports monitored on the BBC website say a dispute has erupted over the visit of the President Jerry John Rawlings to the Scottish Parliament over his human rights record.
President Rawlings, who is due to address Parliament during a private visit to Scotland, will also visit the grave of his father, who was a pharmacist in Ayrshire. Mr Rawlings will be welcomed to the Scottish Parliament by Presiding Officer Sir David Steel on 13 September. However, to John McAllion, the Dundee East Labour MSP, the parliamentary parties should have been consulted first. He said: “If what is said about him about seizing power is true, he is not the kind of person we would want to see feted by the Scottish Parliament.” While the British Foreign Office says Mr Rawlings’ visit to the UK is private, Mr McAllion, added: “The reception at the Scottish Parliament turns it into a public visit, which raises another kind of question.
Kenny Gibson, nationalist Glasgow list MSP, said only leaders of countries with what he termed sound democratic credentials should be allowed to address the parliament. He said: “It is important that we trade with countries around the world, and not everyone has the same kind of political and cultural institutions that we do. If presidents or any other leaders are going to address the Scottish Parliament, it should only be those with sound democratic credentials and an acceptable human rights record.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Parliament said: “We were made aware President Rawlings was coming to Scotland as part of a private visit, and on that basis we felt it appropriate to issue a formal invitation to the President, which has been accepted.”
