PAP resumed election: AU set to address the incident that led to suspension of the election

The Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC), the organ of the African Union (AU) charged with the responsibility of preparing the agenda as well as the draft decisions of the Executive Council is set to discuss the recent incident which resulted in the suspension of the May 2021 election session of the Pan African Parliament (PAP).

This was contained in the draft agenda for the Forty-Second Ordinary Session of the PRC scheduled for September 27 to October 1, 2021 with referenced PRC/Draft/1(XLII)Rev.1 at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

As is customary, the draft decision of the PRC on the issue will definitely form the decision of the Executive Council which is expected to uphold its previous decisions especially the instruction to different AU organs to apply the rotation principle in line with its Decision adopted in January 2016 (EX.CL/Dec. 907(XXVIII)), regardless of whether the principle of Geographical Rotation is mentioned in the legal instruments establishing those organs, bodies and/or institutions.

In a related development, the AU delegation designated by the Chairperson of the African Union will arrive South Africa on Monday September 27, 2021 for a working visit with officials of the Pan African Parliament.

The AU visiting panel will be led by Mr. Katebaye Tradeto, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Chairperson. Other members of the panel include Head of the Reform Unit, representative of the Embassy of the DRC, representative of the Political Affairs and Peace, Security Directorate and the legal counsel.

It would be recalled that following suspicions that the principle of rotational presidency of the PAP may be breached, the Southern Regional Caucus sought clarification from the Office of AU Legal Council on the applicability of the rotation principle in the conduct of the 2021 election for PAP President and members of the Bureau.

By a letter referenced BC/OLC/23.18/10814.21, AU Office of Legal Counsel stated that “the principle of geographical rotation is a well-established principle within the Union. The principle has been consistently applied with legal obligatory effect within the entire Union. It’s indeed considered as customary international law as clearly manifested and consistently reflected within the legal instruments of the AU policy and technical organs in elections of political offices. This can be seen from application in the election of Bureau of the Union and all other deliberative bodies of the Union”.

The AU Legal Counsel in the said letter, concluded that the current Protocol of PAP adopted in 2001 has incorporated the principle of rotation although wrongfully applied over the years in electing Bureau members. Both the 2001 Protocol of PAP and the Decisions of the Executive Council clarified the principle of rotation in line with the prevailing practice of the Union.

The said letter went further to state that the principle of geographical rotation had been strictly adhered to since its adoption by AU Policy Organs. This practice has been consistent and uninterrupted with mandatory effect within the entire Union. It stated that the Executive Council instructed different AU organs to apply the same principle in line with the Decision of the Executive Council adopted in January 2016 (EX.CL/Dec. 907(XXVIII)), regardless if the principle of Geographical Rotation is mentioned in the legal instruments establishing those organs, bodies and/or institutions.

The letter concluded by stating that “PAP shall apply and strictly adhere to the Executive Council Decisions EX.CL/Dec.979(XXXV) adopted in June 2017 where the Council called upon the PAP ‘to apply the African Union values, rules and regulations in managing all activities of the organ, including rotation of the Bureau and Presidency…’ and EX.CL/Dec1018(XXXIII) adopted in June 2018 where it requested ‘the PAP to comply with the principle of geographical rotation among the five regions of Africa in future elections of the Bureau’. Any Election of the PAP Bureau that doesn’t respect the mentioned decisions on geographical rotations shall be deemed illegal, therefore only regions who never occupied the presidency of PAP shall be eligible to present candidates for this post. By the legal opinion by the authorized agency of the African Union, the issue of retroactive application of the principle of rotation appears to have been settled.

With the resumed election session of the PAP scheduled for November 2021, it is expected that the issue of whether the principle of geographical rotation will be applied should be resolved by the AU by then