-9B. CPT membership 18. Four new CPT members were elected by the Committee of Ministers in the course of 1996: Mr Zdeněk Hájek (in respect of the Czech Republic), Mr Lambert Kelchtermans (in respect of Belgium), Mr Miklós Magyar (in respect of Hungary) and Mrs Maria Sciberras (in respect of Malta). Further, since the beginning of 1997, Mrs Emilia Drumeva has been elected to the CPT in respect of Bulgaria. During the same period, Mr Bjarman (Iceland), Mr Oehry (Liechtenstein) and Mr Torres Boursault (Spain) have been re-elected. Mr Vieira Mesquita (Portugal) left the CPT on the expiry of his term of office in September 1996, and the seat vacated by him remains unfilled. As a result, the CPT presently has 28 members10. The seats in respect of Andorra, Albania, Estonia, Portugal and Slovenia are vacant, and seats in respect of Ukraine and "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" shall have to be filled as from respectively 1 September and 1 October 1997. 19. Much has already been written on the subject of the qualities and professional experience required of CPT members. The Committee shall refrain from going over this ground once again. However, it wishes to place on record its appreciation of the close scrutiny of lists of candidates now being exercised by the Bureau of the Parliamentary Assembly and at the level of the Committee of Ministers. The CPT also greatly welcomes the recommendations and measures concerning the election of its members set out in Recommendation 1323 (1997) and Order n 530 (1997) of the Parliamentary Assembly. Indeed, for the CPT to be fully effective, it is essential to ensure that its members meet the criteria set out in Article 4 (paragraphs 2 and 4) of the Convention and that all relevant professions are adequately represented within the Committee. C. Meeting the challenge of the widening circle of Parties to the Convention 20. The number of Parties to the Convention continues to rise. As already indicated, the last few months have seen ratifications by Ukraine and "The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia". Other ratifications are on the horizon, most significantly that of the Russian Federation. It is reasonable to assume that by the year 2000, the number of Parties to the Convention will peak at between 40 to 45 States. 21. In order to cope successfully with these developments, it will be necessary to gradually increase the number of visiting days carried out by the CPT. Failing this, the Committee will not be in a position to absorb the impact of the huge expansion of its field of operations; the interval between visits to a considerable number of Parties to the Convention shall become unacceptably long, thereby fatally undermining the effectiveness of the Committee's work in those countries. 10 See Appendix 2A for the full list of CPT members. Abridged curriculum vitae of the members can be obtained from the Committee's Secretariat.