Joao Soares (Portugal) was elected President of the Assembly in 2008 at the Annual Session in Astana.

He was re-elected to another one-year term at the 2009 Annual Session in Vilnius. He had previously served two years as Vice-President. Soares was particularly active in OSCE PA election observation missions, including serving as Special Co-ordinator of OSCE short-term observers for the 2014 presidential election in Ukraine.

Soares was first elected to the Portuguese Parliament in 1987 and has also served as a Member of the European Parliament, including as a Member of the EP Bureau. From 1995 to 2002 he was Deputy Mayor and Mayor of Lisbon, during which time he also served as a Member of the State Council. He was appointed Portugal's Minister of Culture in November 2015.