President of Malawi to address MSPs in Parliament's Chamber
1pm , Thursday 3 November

100/2005 | 1 November 2005

The President of Malawi, His Excellency Dr Bingu wa Mutharika, will visit the Scottish Parliament on Thursday, 3 November, where he will address a Meeting of Members in the Main Chamber.

The Malawian President is also set to observe First Minister’s Questions and meet with Presiding Officer George Reid MSP. Media access details below.

The President will visit the Scottish Parliament for three consecutive days as he will also take part in the Scotland-Malawi Partnership Conference on Friday and Saturday. The Presiding Officers will chair the conference, which will be officially opened by Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and The President of Malawi, the co-Presidents of the Scotland-Malawi Partnership.

Media access to the address for journalists, photographers and broadcasters is on a pre-arranged basis only. The following outlines arrangements for:
• Accredited and non accredited media
• Photography pools and open calls
• Broadcasting pools and feed

Media Access

Media Access for Scottish Parliament accredited media
Owing to security restrictions, all media wishing to be present in the media gallery for the speech will need to register in advance with the Parliament’s Media Relations Office. This includes current Media Tower pass holders.

Passes for the event should be collected from the Canongate entrance (at the ‘Travel Desk’) where the Parliament’s Media Relations Officers will be available from 11.30am – 1.00pm only.

Reporters covering the address are required to be seated in the Main Chamber's press gallery by no later than 12.50pm.

Late arrivals are likely to be denied access to the Chamber. For security purposes, once inside the gallery, media will be required to remain seated until after the President has departed at 1.25pm.

Names for all media wishing to attend should be provided to the Parliament’s Media Relations Office by Wednesday 10.30am. As places in the Media Gallery are limited, there shall be space for only one representative per publication.

Media Access for non-accredited media
Journalists, photographers or broadcasting staff without Parliament accreditation or who have not already organised day accreditation must contact the Parliament’s Media Relations Office by Wednesday 2 November (10.30am) to secure day accreditation.

Names of all media wishing to attend should be provided to the Parliament’s Media Relations Office by Wednesday 10.30am.

Passes for the event should be collected from the Canongate entrance where the Parliament’s Media Relations Officers will be available from 11.30am – 1.00pm only. Photographic ID will be required but NUJ cards are not accepted.

As places in the Media Gallery are limited, there shall be space for only one representative per publication.

The usual ‘Media Day Pass’ system will not be in operation for this event.

Facilities for filing copy for organisations other than those based at the Parliament are not available.

Brief summary of schedule

11.45am:
Presiding Officer George Reid greets the President at Parliament’s Queensberry House entrance.
Photo opportunity: Queensberry House Courtyard. Due to space restrictions a pool system, arranged by the Parliament’s Media Relations Office, will be in place to ensure photographs are available to all newsdesks.
The Parliament’s Broadcasting Unit will also have a camera in place.

12 noon:
President and Presidential Party observe First Minister’s Questions from Presiding Officer’s Gallery.
Photo opportunity: Please note that a pool system will again be in place from the Media Gallery.
Broadcasting footage is available from the Parliament’s Broadcasting Unit.

12.30 for 12.35pm:
The President will meet school children with the First Minister and the Presiding Officer following First Minister’s Question Time on the floor of the Chamber. School children from St Ignatius Primary School and PS 12 school children from Howden St Andrew’s Primary School from Livingston – who have been running an appeal called "Backpacks for Malawi".
Photographs: This will be an open photocall for the media. Photographers wishing to attend this photo call should contact the Parliament’s Media Relations Office in advance to arrange appropriate media accreditation, if not already arranged. Special passes will be required to cover this photocall. The Parliament’s Broadcasting Unit will also have a camera in place.

12.45 for 12.55pm:
Presentation to parliamentary party leaders – in Members’ Lobby the Presiding Officer will present the Party Leaders.

Photo opportunity: There will be an open photocall for the media in the Members’ Lobby (area outside the Members’ Restaurant). Photographers wishing to attend this photocall should contact the Parliament’s Media Relations Office in advance to arrange appropriate media accreditation, if not already arranged.
The Parliament’s Broadcasting Unit will also have a camera in place.

1.00pm:
President addresses Parliament.
Photo opportunity: Please note that a pre-arranged pool system will again be in place from the Media Gallery. Additionally, our own photographer will be on the floor of the Debating Chamber – photographs will be available from the Media Relations Office.

1.25pm:
The President leaves the Debating Chamber and then departs.

Photo and broadcast opportunities

To summarise, the following opportunities are available:

• Arrival shots of President at Queensberry House, Canongate, Royal Mile (11.45am), on pool basis.

• Open photocall for First Minister introducing school children (12. 30 for 12.35pm).

• Open photocall for President’s meeting with party leaders in Members’ Lobby (12.45 for 12.55pm).

• President’s speech. Pool arrangements in Gallery. (1pm).

Parliament photographers will be taking pictures on the floor of the Chamber and these will be freely available from the team on 0131 348 6269.

Pictures of the day

The Parliament’s photography team will be taking pictures throughout the day. Images can be obtained free of charge from the team on 0131 348 6269.

Footage of the day

The event will be broadcast live on Holyrood.tv and footage will be available to broadcasters. Any requests for footage should be addressed to the Parliament’s Broadcasting unit on 0131 348 5148.

The Parliament's media contact is:

Sally Coyne Tel: 0131 348 6269
RNID TypeTalk calls welcome
email: sally.coyne@scottish.parliament.uk

For public information enquiries, contact: 0131 348 5000 or 0845 278 1999 (local call rate)
Text phone: 0131 348 3415 RNID Typetalk calls welcome
email: sp.info@scottish.parliament.uk

Visit our website at: www.scottish.parliament.uk