- The race is to succeed Moussa Faki from Chad whose term comes to an end next year.
- African Union is classified into five regions- Southern, Central, Eastern, Western, and Northern Africa.
With slightly over a year to an election to pick the new African Union (AU) commission chairperson, regional leaders have begun engaging in high-level talks and behind-the-scene negotiations.
The race is to succeed Moussa Faki from Chad whose term comes to an end next year.
The new office holder will be selected at the 38th AU summit to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in February 2025.
An AUC chairperson is elected by the Assembly for a four-year term, renewable once.
Others to be selected are the deputy chairperson and eight commissioners, who together with the chair make up the Commission’s top leadership.
Regions
African Union is classified into five regions- Southern, Central, Eastern, Western, and Northern Africa.
Under AU rules introduced in 2018, the seat for the AUC chairperson is held on a rotational basis among these regions.
The rules were made to promote the principles of regional rotation, gender, merit and inter-regional rotation.
Central, Southern and Western have already had representatives since 2002 and it is now the turn for Eastern and Northern regions.
Elections
The election is conducted in accordance with Rules 38, 39 and 42 on the procedure of the Assembly and Executive Council, statutes of the commission of the commission and rule of procedure of the permanent representatives’ committee of the AU.
Rule 38 explains how the election of the Commission chairperson and Deputy shall be conducted.
Rule 39 is on the appointment of the commissioners which is to be based on equal geographical distribution.
The respective regions from which the chairperson and his/her deputy shall be appointed shall be entitled to only one (1) commissioner each.
“The commissioners shall be competent women or men with proven experience in the relevant field, commensurate leadership qualities and a good track record in government, parliament, international organizations or other relevant sectors of society,” it states.
Rule 42 is on the voting procedure for the election of the members of the Commission.
The Assembly, according to the rule shall elect the chairperson and his/her deputy by secret ballot and a two-thirds majority of member states eligible to vote.
Candidates
Candidatures for the office of the chairperson of the commission and his/her deputy shall be circulated to member states at least three (3) months before the election.
It states that the chairperson and his/her deputy shall not be from the same region.
Opposition leader Raila Odinga is one of those who have already thrown their hats into the ring.
Former Somalia Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Fawzia Adam is also said to be fronted by Mogadishu “as part of the government’s strategy to promote Somalia’s influence in the international arena”.
To ensure that candidates are chosen on merit and not solely through deal-making between states and regions, the AU decided to set up a panel of eminent persons who will vet candidates and draw up a shortlist.
By the end of 2023, however, only three of Africa’s five regions had met the deadline to submit a candidate to serve on the panel.
Countries have until May 2024 to submit the names of their preferred candidates.
In choosing names, member states are required to pick not only the former heads of state and foreign ministers but also Africans who have excelled at statecraft in other domains, such as in the UN system.
To ensure a balanced representation, countries are expected to nominate as many women as possible.
Voting
Rule 42 states that voting shall commence with the election of the chairperson followed by the deputy and thereafter the Assembly shall appoint the commissioners elected by the Executive Council.
Executive council here means the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs or such other ministers or authorities as designated by the governments of member states.
In any election for the chairperson or his/her deputy, the balloting shall continue until one (1) of the candidates obtains the two-thirds majority required.
Provided that, if the third ballot remains inconclusive, the next ballot shall be restricted to the two (2) candidates who obtained the highest number of votes in the third ballot.
If after three (3) further ballots neither of the two (2) candidates obtains the majority required, the candidate with fewer votes shall withdraw.
Where there are only two (2) candidates initially and neither candidate obtains the majority required after the third ballot, the candidate with fewer votes shall withdraw and the remaining candidate shall proceed to the next round.
“If the remaining candidate fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required in that round, the Chairperson shall suspend the election,” it states.
Where there is only one (1) candidate initially and he or she fails to obtain the two-thirds majority required after the third ballot the Chairperson shall suspend the election.
The deputy chairperson shall then take over the chairmanship of the commission on an interim basis until new elections are held.
If the impasse is in respect of the deputy chairperson, the most senior commissioner by length of tenure, or by age where length of tenure is the same, shall be designated to act as the deputy chairperson until new elections are held.