BREAKING NEWS: PAP Elections to hold 28 - 30 June

At last, the anticipated election session of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) will now take place 28 – 30 June, 2022 at the seat of the parliament in Midrand, South Africa as per its Protocol.

The decision was taken after a meeting of the staff of the Office of Legal Counsel, the African Union Commission (AUC) and the Acting Clerk of PAP and some PAP staff.

It was gathered that the date was selected to allow the Chairperson of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government H.E. President Macky Sall and the Chairperson of the African Union Commission to attend.

In line with the Executive Council decision (EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX)) which directed the Office of Legal Counsel (OLC) to conduct and manage the PAP elections process and elaborate the elections modalities within the established Rules and Regulations of the Union and the relevant Executive Council decision on the principle of rotation, the OLC is expected to issue the modalities for the election.

The nomination of candidates by eligible regions for the post of President and the Bureau members will be submitted to OLC through the PAP regional Caucus as directed by the Executive Council at its 39^th Ordinary Session, 14 – 15 October 2021 (EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX)).

It is expected that the modalities and issues for the election to be worked out by the OLC include swearing in of new MPs before the election, screening of candidates for president vis-à-vis eligible regions, and other electoral arrangements.

African Parliamentary News recalls that the Executive Council in paragraphs 8 and 10 of decision (EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX)) directed the OLC to organize and manage the election session as well as elaborate the elections modalities observing the principle of rotation. The expectation is that the modalities which will be very explicit, should be released before MPs arrive in South Africa for the session.