PAP Southern Caucus is satisfied with Executive Council decision on PAP – Hon. Chihana

The Chairperson of the Southern Caucus in the Pan African Parliament (PAP), Hon. Yeremiah Chihana has said that the Southern Caucus is quite happy with the decisions of the 40^th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council held 02 – 03 February 2022 at the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Hon. Chihaha stated this during an exclusive interview with the African Parliamentary News on the sidelines of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa.

It would be recalled that the Executive Council re-affirmed its previous decisions at the 30^th Ordinary Session where it stated that the principle of rotation must be applied in the election of the president of the continental parliament such that it is only the Northern and Southern regions that had not had the opportunity of leading PAP that shall be eligible to field candidates for president. The Council also decided that the election session shall be held at the seat of the parliament in South Africa, to be conducted and managed by the Office of Legal Counsel of the African Union with the Chairperson of the African Union Commission as well as the Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security in attendance.

The 40^th Ordinary Session of the Council reaffirmed those previous decisions and then further decided that the election session will be held in April after consultations with the other regional caucuses which will take place in the months of February and March 2022.

Reacting, Hon. Chihana stated that “as a Caucus, we are quite pleased and satisfied with the decisions which have been made by our Foreign Affairs Ministers where the statutory meeting will be made in April which includes the election of the Bureau of the Parliament. We equally applaud the decision affirming that South Africa is prepared to host the April session and indeed subsequent sessions of the Parliament”.

He noted that for two years, the parliament has been inactive whereas the African Union spent about seventeen million dollars ($17 million) on payment of salaries of the staff of the parliament during those two years.

“We are aware that there are some challenges on how the AUC Chairperson will be engaged in those consultations as we are not aware of the terms of the engagement”.

“We are encouraging the entire AU member states to send their delegates to South Africa in April to ensure that the bureaus of the Parliament as well as those of the regional caucuses and permanent committees are elected” noting that PAP would thereafter return to its normal calendar of statutory meetings.