PAP President to proceed on leave, hands over to Third Vice President as Acting President on rotation

The President of the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), H. E. Hon. Chief Fortune Charumbira will proceed on a two-month leave effective from 28 August and has designated the Third Vice President, Hon.  Lucia Maria Mendes Goncalves Dos Passos (Mrs.) from Cape Verde, representing the Western Regional Caucus as the Acting President on rotation.

This is contained in a letter by Hon. Chief Charumbira addressed to Hon. Lucia Maria Mendez Dos Passos and copied to the other three Vice Presidents and the Clerk of the Parliament.

According to the letter, the President took the action pursuant to Rules 19(1) and (2) of the Parliament’s Rules of Procedure which provides for the functions of the Vice Presidents as follows:

1.   The Vice Presidents in the order of ranking and by rotation, shall act as President in the absence of the President or when the President is unable to discharge his or her duties.

2.   The Vice Presidents shall carry out the duties prescribed by the Bureau under the direction and control of the President and subject to the such directives as may be issued by the Parliament.

“In that regard, in view of the fact that the 1^st and 2^nd Vice Presidents have acted as Presidents in my absence, I have appointed Hon. Lucia Maria Mendes Goncalves Dos Passos, the 3^rd Vice President to act as President in my absence for a period of two months beginning on Monday August 28, 2023” he wrote.

Hon. Chief Charumbira stated that he may return to assume his responsibilities as President much earlier but in the event that he is still absent, he outlined how the rotational acting sequence will proceed up till December 2023.