Africa, Headlines

POLITICS-AFRICA: An Underwhelming Response to the Pan-African Parliament

Moyiga Nduru

JOHANNESBURG, Feb 26 2004 (IPS) - With less than a month to go before the first session of the African parliament, interest in the new legislature appears to be at a low in various parts of the continent.

In a message posted on its website, the Addis Ababa-based African Union (AU) has urged member states which have not done so to speed up the submission of names of representatives to the Pan-African Parliament. Each country is required to nominate five members from its national parliament to the continental legislature.

The AU also requested member states to get formal approval from national legislatures as soon as possible for participation in the African parliament, and to send notification of this approval to the AU Commission.

By Thursday (Feb. 26), only 32 of the AU’s 53 members had submitted the names of representatives to attend the first session of the parliament – scheduled to take place in Addis Ababa on Mar. 18-20.

Claude Kabemba, an analyst at the Johannesburg-based Electoral Institute of Southern Africa (EISA), told IPS that those countries which were dragging their feet might be doing so because they feared greater accountability: “Some are reluctant to be subjected to the rule of law and transparency.”

The Pan-African Parliament, which is modeled on the European Parliament, was launched in the Libyan town of Sirte in March 2001.

President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, who is the current chairman of the AU, will lead the first session of the legislature before handing over to the parliamentary speaker and their four deputies as soon as these officials are elected.

In its first five years of existence, the parliament will play an advisory role. After that, it will start to legislate on issues that affect Africa.

Kabemba believes that the varying pace of democracy on the continent would prevent the parliament from taking an active role any sooner. “African countries are at different levels of development and democracy. Some are advanced and others are ruled by autocrats like Togo,” he said.

Togo’s General Gnassingbe Eyadema, the longest serving head of state in sub-Saharan Africa, has been in power since 1967. He has never permitted free and fair elections to be held in the country.

Some of his political opponents have disappeared under mysterious circumstances – while others have fled the former French colony.

“We should move slowly and make sure that we get all the AU members aboard,” Kabemba added. “Some countries like the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) have not yet even started thinking about joining the Pan-African Parliament.”

War and decades of mismanagement have destroyed the DRC’s political institutions and infrastructure. “Even if the DRC sends representatives, their input will be minimal,” Kabemba observed.

Another challenge facing the AU is where to locate the parliament. Egypt, Libya and South Africa have all expressed interest in hosting it.

Frene Ginwala, Speaker of the South African parliament, told journalists in Cape Town last week that South Africa’s bid to host the continental legislature had received support from several countries (most of which are said to be part of the Southern African Development Community).

She said President Thabo Mbeki has written to African governments seeking their endorsement of the bid.

Not to be outdone, Libyan leader Muammar Ghadaffi is reportedly building a palatial meeting hall in Tripoli to house the parliament.

But concern has been expressed about Libya’s lack of democratic credentials.

“Libya has no functioning democracy. It has been ruled by decree since Ghaddafi seized power through a military coup in 1969. It will be a mockery to allow Libya to host the Pan-African Parliament,” said Stephen Narola, a researcher at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg.

“Unless Libya opens up,” he added, “Africa should not even think of it hosting any of the AU organs.”

A lack of resources may, however, force Africa to do exactly that. Apart from the African parliament, the African Court of Justice and the African Central Bank are also in search of homes.

Ghaddaffi has been generous to the AU, which inherited a debt of 40 million dollars from its predecessor, the Organisation of African Union (OAU), in 2002. Between 2001 and 2002, Libya paid about 2.3 million dollars to the AU on behalf of 11 African states which were in arrears to the OAU.

But, Kabemba does not believe that there is shortage of money in Africa. “All these countries have money. The problem is, their heart is not close to the African Union,” he said.

Libya’s relationship with the AU is also complicated by the fact that it has expressed doubts about the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD): a programme that seeks to improve the lives of the continent’s 811 million people within the context of the union. In 2002 Ghaddafi described NEPAD as a neo-colonial instrument. “We have our own type of democracy. We accept assistance but we refuse conditions,” he told African leaders.

NEPAD is based on the premise that African countries that adhere to principles of good governance should qualify for increased investment from the developed world – notably in infrastructure. African leaders say they need 64 billion dollars in aid and investment annually to combat poverty and disease, and to rebuild the continent.