The
Conference Hall of the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka,
Zambia, where the 41st Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of the African
Union was being held, was in a celebratory and joyful mood when the report on
the implementation of the Executive Council decision EX.CL/Dec.1128(XXXIX)
on the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was presented. The new Bureau of the
legislative organ of the Union was formally and officially unveiled to African
Ministers of Foreign Affairs.
The
Executive Council described the recent elections of the Bureau of the PAP, and
the subsequent resumption of Parliamentary activities as a triumph of African
unity and Pan-Africanism. In what was a moment of celebration following the
stalemate that caused uncertainty at the PAP, the Council welcomed the sense of
responsibility and the spirit of compromise of Parliamentarians that prevailed
during the elections, which saw the application of African Union values, rules,
and regulations, including the principle of geographical rotation of the
Bureau.
The
Ministers of Foreign Affairs congratulated the newly elected leadership and all
members of the PAP for acting in a manner that has redeemed the image of the
Parliament as well as the image of the Union. This is a sharp contrast to the
unfortunate incidents of May and June 2021 that led to the suspension of the
activities of Parliament. The report, which hailed all the efforts deployed by
all structures of the Union to restore calm and harmony at the PAP, was
unanimously adopted.
Cameroon,
DRC, Egypt, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Angola, Ethiopia, Saharawi Republic, Libya,
Algeria, Ghana, Senegal, Cape Verde are some of the Member States who took
turns to express the significance of the PAP as a continental Parliament and
the extreme satisfaction with the outcome of the interventions by the AU to
ensure a peaceful resolution to challenges faced by the Parliament in May 2021.
They
called it a “moment of celebration for the continent”. According to the
Executive Council, the ideals embodied by a continental Parliament and how
these ideals contribute to a more integrated Africa, demand that all efforts be
made to preserve the PAP.
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