Ninth Report of the Working Group on the African Union:
Following its Eighth Report, which was published on 8 September 2003, the Working Group would like to report as follows:
1. Draft Rules for the Pan African Parliament (PAP) During 2002, the Working Group commissioned research on draft rules for the PAP with a view to submitting recommendations to the African Union Commission through the PAP Steering Committee. The research report was submitted to the Working Group in February 2003. During August 2003, the Speaker, in her capacity as the Chairperson of the Steering Committee, also received a set of draft rules of procedure for submission to the Steering Committee from the Deputy Clerk of the Kenyan National Assembly.
On 9 September 2003, the Working Group established a Task Team on the Rules of the PAP to consider priority areas on which rules of procedure for the Inaugural Session of the PAP needed to be formulated; to identify rules of procedure for the general functioning of the PAP and to conduct a comparative analysis of the draft rules emanating from the commissioned research, those drafted by the Deputy Clerk of the Kenyan National Assembly and rules of procedure of other regional Parliamentary bodies.
The Working Group identified the following issues for immediate consideration by the Task Team: (i) Oath of office or solemn declaration; (ii) Election of office Bearers; (iii) Rules for decision-making; (iv) Rules of Debate; (v) Regional caucuses; and (vi) Committees.
The Task Team met on 18 September 2003 and its views are incorporated in this report which, inter alia, contains broad principles around the Rules of Procedure.
(1) Oath of office or solemn declaration Article 13 of the PAP Protocol provides that at its first sitting, after election and before proceeding with any other matter, the Pan African Parliamentarians shall take an oath or make a solemn declaration which shall be set out as an addendum to this Protocol.
Various options in respect of who would administer the oath could be considered amongst which would be the Chairperson of the Assembly of the AU or the Chairperson of the AU Commission. The Working Group recommends that the Chairperson of the Assembly administers the initial taking of the oath or making of a solemn declaration, as the inauguration would be a continental ceremony. However, a Rule must provide for the administering of the oath or declaration thereafter with regard to new members as it would be a continuous process. The swearing-in process does not require a Rule. The manner for conducting the swearing-in would be a logistical matter. Members could be called up in groups of five or ten, with an acknowledgement of the countries from which they come.
(2) Election of Office Bearers Article 12(2) of the Protocol provides that the Pan African Parliament shall elect, at its first sitting following its election, by secret ballot, from among its members and in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, a President and four (4) Vice Presidents representing the Regions of Africa as determined by the OAU. The election shall, in each case, be by simple majority of the members present and voting.
The Working Group expressed the view that the AU Commission could facilitate the administration of the election of Office Bearers.
(a) Procedures of Nominating The Working Group recommends that the Steering Committee should, once sufficient ratifications are deposited with the AU, request regions to start the process of nominating candidates for both the Presidency and Vice Presidency of the PAP.
The AU Commission would be the suitable central body to monitor nominations by regions. There was general consensus on the need for time limits regarding submission of nominations, as ballot papers would have to be prepared timeously. However, time limits should be flexible to allow for the smooth running of democratic processes within regions. It would be important to record on the nomination form whether the candidate accepted his/her nomination. Consideration should be given to whether there should be a fixed number of persons supporting the nomination of a candidate.
The Working Group felt that the Steering Committee should not be prescriptive in regard to regions concerning procedures for nominations, but it may wish to provide guidelines as regards the process and timeframes.
The Rules should also provide for a situation where a region was unable to forward a nomination. The Working Group, however, felt that in the absence of a regional nomination, other regions should be free to make nominations from the defaulting region.
Parliament would need guidance from the Department of Foreign Affairs as to what the position was as regards a host country wishing to nominate a candidate or being nominated by another country.
(b) Method of Voting Rules would need to be formulated on the following:
(i) Ballot for election of President and Vice Presidents; (ii) Results of Voting; (iii) Reporting of Results; (iv)Procedure if there is no successful candidate; and (v) Taking of Chair by President. Consideration should be given to a situation that could arise should there be a query regarding the election results. The Working Group felt that there might not be a need for a specific Rule covering this aspect.
(3) Rules for decision making According to Article 12 (11) of the Protocol, the quorum for a meeting of the Pan African Parliament shall be constituted by a simple majority. Article 12 (12) states that each Pan African Parliamentarian shall have one vote. Decisions shall be made by consensus or, failing which, by a two-thirds majority of all the Members present and voting. However, procedural matters, including the question of whether a matter is one of procedure or not, shall be decided by a simple majority of those present and voting, unless otherwise stipulated in the Rules of Procedure. In the event of an equal number of votes, the person presiding shall have a casting vote.
Voting Procedure Apart from the election of Office Bearers of the Parliament for which an election procedure was prescribed in the Protocol, a situation might arise which would require certain decisions to be taken during the first session e.g. adoption of rules of procedure.
In this regard, Rules would need to be formulated on areas such as (i) Declaration of Vote; (ii) the Manner of Voting on Specific Questions; and (iii) What happens should there not be consensus.
(4) Rules Of Debate Rules should also be formulated on the following:(i) Address of Chair by Members; (ii) Calling of Members; (iii) Time Limits for Speeches; (iv) Reference to Member by name; (v) Offensive Language; (vi)Explanations; (vii) Points of Order/Interruption of Debates and Speeches; (viii) Rights of Members to Speak/Freedom of speech; (ix) Closure of Debate; (x) Scope of Debate; (xi) Conduct of Members during Debate; (xii) Role of President in Debate; and (xiii) Disciplinary measures.
(5) Regional caucuses Article 18 of the Protocol states that the Pan-African Parliament shall work in close co-operation with the Parliaments of the Regional Economic Communities and the National Parliaments or other deliberative organs of Member States. To this effect, the Pan African Parliament may, in accordance with its Rules of Procedure, convene annual consultative meetings fora with the Parliaments of the Regional Economic Communities and the National Parliaments or other deliberative organs to discuss matters of common interest.
Regions would play a vital role in the Pan African Parliament. The Working Group was of the view that it was not necessary to formulate a Rule detailing the functioning of regional caucuses within the PAP. However, there ought to be an arrangement for regional caucuses to meet and discuss issues, inter alia, with a view to formulating regional positions on specific matters.
(6) Committees Article 12(13) of the Protocol provides that the Pan African Parliament may establish such committees as it deems fit for the proper discharge of its functions and in accordance with its Rules of Procedure.
The Working Group felt that particular in-house committees would need to be established during the first session of the PAP to facilitate the smooth running of the institution. These committees could deal with issues such as (i) Rules of the PAP; (ii) the budget; and (iii) programming of business. The Working Group has requested the Task Team to consider further the specific functions of the proposed committees.
Rules would therefore be necessary to provide for the (i) types of PAP committees ("In-house" and "Portfolio"); (ii) Composition; (iii) Terms of Reference; (iv) Terms of Office; (v) Quorums; (vi) Decision-making; (vii) Meetings; (viii) Reporting (ix) Powers and Functions; and (x) Publication or Disclosure of Proceedings, Evidence, Reports, etc.
A political management structure should be in place after the election of the Bureau to ensure that the necessary support was given to the new institution. It would be vital for the Commission to give consideration to this question.
(7) Appointment of staff The process of appointment of the Clerk and Deputy Clerk of the PAP would need to be discussed at the Inaugural Session. It was noted that as per the Protocol, the staff of the AU Commission would support the Bureau until such time as the PAP staff were appointed.
(8) Languages Article 25 of the Constitutive Act of the African Union states that the working languages of the Union and all its institutions shall be, if possible, African languages, Arabic, English, French and Portuguese.
Consideration should be given to the use at the PAP of Sign-Language and Braille.
2. Fourth Seminar on the African Union In its Eighth Report, the Working Group recommended that a seminar be held before the end of the 2003 Parliamentary session. To this end, the Working Group has agreed on the following key objectives for the Seminar:
(i) To enhance the understanding of the Pan African Parliament amongst Members of the South African Parliament;
(ii) To foster institutional engagement on the African Union with particular reference to the Pan African Parliament; and
(iii) To empower Members to have ongoing dialogue with the people of South Africa and embark on public awareness activities with respect to the Pan African Parliament.
The Working Group recommends that the Seminar be scheduled for 20 October 2003. Further, consideration should be given to inviting certain individuals to participate in the Seminar as resource people.