The rules governing the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) should reflect the goals outlined in the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD). Key aspects such as democracy, economic and social development, gender equity, peace and stability, and the manner in which the PAP will be developed and empowered as an institution to champion these goals, is of crucial importance. The goals should touch upon how the long-term vision views its legislative powers playing a central role in Africa and its development. For example, will the PAP adopt or take similar powers as those of the European Parliament, United States of America’s Congress, or the Commonwealth of Independent States’ Parliamentary Forum?

It needs to be noted that some of the PAP's rules catered specifically for its first sitting and not beyond that session. These need to be amended accordingly to allow for effective continuity. However, not all the rules can be amended at present, as this will be an on going exercise. Key gaps should be examined and dealt with. Listed below are some of those areas that were identified during the PAP workshop at the Parliament of South Africa, in August 2004.

• Rules spelling out the goals and requirements for gender equity to be achieved internally in PAP should be expanded. This would range from the composition of Members of Parliament (MPs), Presiding Officers (POs) and staff to committee work.
• Rules should be developed and adopted to cover the allowances for PAP MPs and to prevent any misunderstandings, abuses or confusion.

• Processes outlining the drawing up of the PAP agendas are needed. In order to ensure broad and free debates, Members should not be allowed to veto possible items for discussion. Issues for placement on the agenda could be decided by a vote in the PAP. However, a consensual approach would be the preferable option.
• The PAP should be empowered to discuss any issue that it chooses as well as to identify, develop and propose alternative policies and solutions.
• Freedom of speech as well as rules governing Parliamentary immunity for the PAP MPs for activities undertaken in terms of the PAP duties need to be adopted in a clear and precise manner. This will assist the PAP MPs to carry out their duties in as conducive an environment as possible.

• Seating arrangements and identification need to be debated by the PAP. In the short term, it may be more practical for the PAP MPs to sit according to respective countries. In the long term, the PAP should seek to seat by name in order to create a sense of PAP identity and loyalty.

• PAP needs to develop a process for identifying the roles of Deputy Presidents of PAP and their powers. It is also important to outline the role and powers of the Bureau. This will help to ensure that it is effective and thus lays the ground for an effective PAP.
• Currently, when the PAP President resigns, she must submit a letter of resignation to herself. To avoid confusion, this could be amended to state that the President should submit a letter of resignation to her office instead.
• There needs to be further debate and clarity on whether portfolios belong to the individual PAP MP or that member’s country of origin? This would have consequences in the event, for example, of a resignation.

• The constituting of membership, its swearing in and replacement of PAP MPs need to be clarified. The President of the PAP or one of her deputies should, for example, be allowed to swear in member states’ replacements outside of PAP sessions and not just during sessions. This would help to minimise disruptions to the PAP and its committees that could develop as vacancies arise in its membership.
• The PAP may consider it prudent for the PAP MPs to swear an oath of loyalty to the PAP when they are sworn in, in order to assist them in placing the interests of the continent ahead of their nations when executing their PAP duties.
• Special attention needs to be paid to how the PAP MPs derive their mandate. Is it given to them by their national parliament, party of origin or their individual viewpoint? This would need to coincide with clear provisions stating how and when their host Parliaments or parties can recall PAP MPs. This would need to complement the respective host Parliament’s own internal rules.
• In the long term, the PAP may want to consider direct elections for PAP MPs and seating allocations on the basis of proportional representation in order to enhance direct contact with the people, and to represent demographic balance.

• There is a need to spell out clearly the relationship between PAP and the Heads of State Assembly, and the African Union’s Commission and its technical committees. This should include the process dealing with reports, budgets amongst other issues.
• Specific attention needs to be given to the processes surrounding the discussion and adoption of the PAP’s budget, i.e. is it approved by the Heads of State Assembly or the Permanent Council and what should be the role of the Permanent Council in this process? It should be clearly stated in the rules that PAP will report to the Assembly and not to the Permanent Council. Otherwise it may cause the status of PAP to be undermined.
• A clear and meaningful role needs to be given to the PAP with regards to the establishment of the Abuja Treaty institutions.

• The PAP may need to establish a committee in the PAP to process reports from the Commission, the Foreign Ministers’ Executive Committee and other organs of the AU. It may also need to set up a committee to deal with issues affecting human security in the continent. This would be aimed at helping to ensure that development in Africa is people and not state centred. There needs to be further debates in the PAP about whether or not its committees should be broad or specific, i.e. deal with general themes or specific portfolios.
• AU Organs’ reports should be submitted directly to the PAP and not via the Chairperson of the Commission. These reports need to be debated by the PAP and its committees. This would need to include proper mechanisms to ensure that these organs are accountable to the PAP legally and in practise.
• The PAP will also need powers to subpoena and call witnesses to make presentations and submissions to PAP on any matters of interest.
• The PAP may need to debate what role it sees for itself in the African Court for Human and Peoples’ Rights. This could be coupled with the PAP’s vision development process and indicate its views on human and women’s rights. This should bring together universal rights and traditions.

There is a need for accountability and transparency as well as direct linkages and interaction between PAP members and their national parliaments and broader constituencies. This would include questions on how and when do PAP MPs report back to their national parliaments as well as how do they relate issues of broader concern to their general population and constituencies?

The rules also need to indicate the nature of the relationship between the PAP and the National Parliaments. In addition the need to focus on the nature and power of oversight for the PAP and its committees over member states. For example, what is the power of the PAP to intervene in the internal affairs of member states?

There is and will be an on going need to provide a role of the Regional Economic Communities and their Parliamentary structures within the broader processes of the PAP, especially with regards to development of positions on key political and policy issues.

The rules need to provide for a clear relationship between the PAP and the ECOSSOC and civil society at large. This should include rules surrounding public participation and the mechanisms through which this can be achieved. Examples of this would include, public hearings, submissions, petitions, referenda, as well as which committee meetings will be open to the public and which will be closed and the processes and criteria to determine this. This should be done with the goal of making the PAP as accessible as possible to the African public at large.

There is also a need to clearly distinguish different rules, powers and functions of the PAP and ECOSSOC. The PAP may want to debate and elaborate on the role, if any, would it envisage for traditional leaders to play in PAP and the organs of the AU.

• The PAP’s vision and rules should reflect the long-term goals of developing the PAP’s power to legislate and the need to harmonise member states’ respective legislation.
• As the PAP develops, it may be prudent to provide a mechanism for it to review the Constitutive Act of the AU and the PAP’s Protocol, as relevant. A model in South Africa’s Parliament’s Constitutional Review Committee may be useful. The PAP needs to identify ways of addressing weaknesses.
• A Bill of Rights for the continent should be considered as a priority for PAP to develop and adopt.

The most important issue is for the PAP and its MPs to identify and remedy the most urgent weaknesses and gaps in the rules governing the PAP. It is also critical that mechanisms and processes are developed to attend to weaknesses affecting the PAP’s performance in the medium and long term. These should coincide with the PAP’s political vision and the various mechanisms needed to develop as an institution to achieve these.

August 2004

The exercise of formulating a vision for the Pan African Parliament (PAP) requires looking beyond the immediate reality that allows the policy maker a chance to see a future or a position in time where we would like to position the PAP and ultimately the people of the continent. This process is done not in an idealistic fashion but rather in a perceptive, visual, imaginative, intuitive and realistic manner that allows us to attain our vision. Being realistic and aware of the present state of the African continent within the context of the global political economy provides the tools for the people of Africa to understand the present landscape and chart a course towards where the people want to take the continent. There is a new sense of urgency and recognition that the current state of affairs is not optimal. Old strategies have not worked and the process of reconstruction involves a revitalised state, governments and ultimately a new continent. The new African energy communicates through dialogue between state and non-state role players.

In addition to drawing a continental time map of the future the visioning exercise serves another purpose – it lays claim to the future of the continent for the people of the continent. Africans are saying that no longer will the future of the continent be determined externally with Africans playing the role of victim or passive recipient of external design. Africans are now taking control of their own future and determining collectively what that future should look like. The African Union (AU) and the PAP should be seen as instruments within this context. The AU and Pan African Parliament are instruments that give meaning and substance to an African vision. An African vision that so many generations have tried to bring to fruition. People have struggled and sacrificed their lives for the African vision. It is the responsibility of this generation to make the African dream a reality. History will judge us. African history illustrates that process and the nature of the instrument used in attaining our vision is just as important as a vision itself. The appropriate process and instrument would also determine how the vision is attained.

As per Article 16 of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan-African Parliament (PAP Protocol) the Assembly of the AU decided that the PAP should be located in South Africa. In preparation for the September 2004 sitting of PAP the South African Parliament hosted a Vision Dialogue (10 to 11 August 2004) that was attended by Members of Parliament, South African Delegation to PAP, academics and resource people. The objective of the Vision Dialogue hosted by the South African Parliament was to make a contribution to the PAP process and prepare the South African delegation for the PAP Visioning exercise. The discussion of a vision for PAP was held within the legal context of the PAP Protocol being drafted in relation to the Abuja Treaty and not the AU Constitutive Act.

The process of drafting a vision statement for PAP should consider the following questions. What is PAP going to do differently separating it from previous dysfunctional colonial and postcolonial examples? How will PAP be qualitatively different? How does PAP represent something different? Understanding the present context of the African continent will highlight the differences in the PAP process from previous attempts.

In formulating a vision for the African continent it is important to take into account the African context – politically, economically, socially and culturally. An analysis of the continents strengths and weaknesses will highlight the starting point of a visioning exercise.

The key strength of Africa will remain the people of the continent. The African people are a people rich in culture, tradition and history. No matter how harsh the daily lives of African people remain; the humanity and spirit of the African people radiate and serve as a lesson and beacon for all peoples of the world. Poverty will not be able to defeat the African spirit. On the contrary the exercise of the Pan African Parliament shows us that the African spirit will triumph over poverty and adversity. Acceding defeat is not an option for the people of Africa – the African spirit will not allow it. Perseverance and a renewed sense of energy will drive the African project.

The global context is now more than ever conducive to the African project than it ever was. This historical moment should not be lost. Progressive leaders on the African continent have shown their foresight and vision in assessing the global context, consulting internationally and on the continent, formulating the necessary plans and mobilising the citizenry. A new political will and commitment to stop conflict and promote regional integration and development has emerged. The new African politics has been described as a paradigm shift – catching up with the industrialised countries is no longer the focus of the new politics. The new focus is on African people themselves. There is a new energy centred on excellence, respect and placing the interest of Africa first. PAP calls on all Africans to transcend narrow interests and focus on the wider interests of the continent. Africans themselves are leading the paradigm shift. How do we develop our people? How do we develop our human capital? Scientific discovery has shown that Africa is the cradle of humanity. The continent is blessed with many resources that should be seen as strengths that can be leveraged.

While acknowledging the strengths of the African continent we also need to recognise the challenges faced. It is important to bear in mind that the continental challenges should not detract us from our vision but instil energy in all Africans to address problems at a continental, national and even local level. Highlighting the challenges facing the African continent shows the dissatisfaction felt by African’s with the current state of affairs. The African Renaissance, New Partnership for Africa’s Development, AU and PAP processes encourages a critical self-evaluation. Some of the critical self-evaluation questions include: how have we integrated with the world, on what terms have we integrated and how do we redefine our relationship with the world? Challenges facing the African continent include: generational poverty, legacy of the slave trade and colonialism, conflict, coups, unconstitutional changes, weak governments, poor state of national Parliaments, ineffective government bureaucracies, one party states, life time presidents, poor government oversight, weak relationship between Parliament’s and executive branches of government, weak civil society, uneven use of democratic elections and election monitoring, risk of marginalisation, poor capacity, declining share of world trade, weak economies, high levels of debt, mindsets and attitudes.

The status of women in Africa illustrates oppression, exploitation and abuse. Women’s rights must be linked to social and cultural rights. Women must be represented and protected at all levels of human rights. Colonial patriarchal structures have been imposed on African societies for generations.

• A vision statement is not static – it is dynamic, constantly being refined and redefined as history marches on and as the continent operationalises the Pan African Parliament.
• A vision is required to be inspirational touching the spirit of the African people and calling for their mobilisation. PAP and the vision of PAP should instil a sense of self-respect in the African people. PAP calls for the decolonisation of the mind. PAP represents a new Parliament for a new Africa.
• A vision is not drafted for its own sake but rather it is a guide to action for policy makers, decision makers and practitioners.
• The process is just as important as the product itself. The course that is charted by the African continent to make the vision a reality will determine the success or failure of that vision. History is littered with noble vision documents that failed as a result of charting incorrect processes.
• African ownership is crucial to the success of this process as the perception of a lack of ownership will create the sense of imposition. History has shown that imposed ideas do not take root with people and are unable to work. Feedback and consultation is crucial to refining the vision document.

• Commitment to political integration involving African dialogue, cooperation, harmonisation of laws and policies and governmental cooperation that is guided by human rights and the continued struggle against racism, sexism and anti democratic practices. Integration and harmonisation should be analysed within the continental and regional contexts. Linkages need to be established between the national, regional and continental bodies. It needs to be recognised that the concept of nation in an African context is a dynamic process and taking into account the history of slavery, colonialism and the imposition of geographical boundaries on the continent it becomes a difficult political concept to manage. Recognising the dynamic and changing nature of tradition national laws coexist with traditional laws and traditions on the African continent. In addition to the concept of nation the PAP would also need to address the concept of citizenship taking into account geographical boundaries, identity, culture and addressing the impact of the colonial legacy on citizenship. The PAP will work with nation states as a fundamental unit. Citizens will participate through their national and regional Parliaments.
• Political liberation linked to economic liberation. Political democracy and economic development need to be mutually reinforced and not working against each other.
• Integration should reenergise the role of the state. The Cold War, coups, one party states, corruption and weak states have de-legitimised the state with the citizenry.
• Management of diversity. The PAP would need to manage the different political cultures on the continent. In some cases indigenous political traditions are intertwined with colonial political cultures and traditions. It is important that PAP does not adopt or imitate traditions but rather learn from international best practice. The PAP process is not about imitation but rather it is about thinking differently. Similarly with regard to the resources required by PAP to ensure optimal functioning the PAP process should not be compared to industrialised countries recognising that resources by themselves do not necessarily solve problems. PAP calls to the commitment and dedication to the African project.
• Mandates of delegations to the PAP will need to reflect the interest of political parties, member Parliaments and the continent.
• The pluralistic nature of African society and African politics should be seen as Africa’s strength. The PAP should represent the people of Africa in all its diversity. A continental Parliament can be a microcosm of the rich variety in society. Political pluralism and the call for democratic change is as a result of popular pressure and popular struggles from African themselves.
• The advisory and legislative functions of PAP should be seen as a continuum and not a transition. The PAP would need to assert its role and position recognising the distinction between the administrative or bureaucratic and the political processes. The political processes should be the primary driving force followed by the administrative processes strengthening and implementing the political decisions.
• Accountability and transparency should include improving political oversight, financial and corporate accountability, accountability of political leaders and the strengthening of civil society accountability. The PAP can also monitor developments in individual countries through country reports on political situations and sending delegation to member countries. The PAP Protocol allows for the PAP to monitor the activities and functions of the different organs of the AU and the AU itself. Operating within the PAP Protocol, the PAP should not restrict or limit its functioning.
• Development should be human centred with a focus on human rights. Inequality has made the African political and economic infrastructure unsustainable.
• African youth should be mobilised and educated on the African Union and Pan African Parliament.
• A vast number of people around the world have African origins. This is the historical result of the slave trade, colonialism, conflict and the African diaspora. The intellectual, social, cultural wealth of the African peoples spread across the world should be harnessed and mobilised towards developing the African continent.
• Policies of African renewal and development need time to implement, monitor progress and acknowledge that implementation is a learning process. Objectives should be specific, measurable and time bound. The process of establishing and strengthening the PAP needs to ensure credibility by being realistic. The concept of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Assessable, Realistic and Time bound) can be used as a tool in formulating a vision. Goals need to be broken down into realistic time frames.

Globalisation poses many political and economic challenges for countries, especially developing countries. There is a general realisation that countries need to cooperate so as to address common challenges. The African Union and the Pan African Parliament have over the past decade grown in terms of their membership, strength, role and contribution in promoting democracy, peace, economic growth and broader participation. The African context highlights the many hurdles that the recently established PAP will face. These challenges serve to reinforce the need for the PAP.

The histories, political and economic contexts of Africa must be taken into account when evaluating the successes and challenges of the Pan African Parliament. The key role of the Pan African Parliament includes giving political expression to the views and aspirations of Africans. More importantly PAP plays a significant role in serving as a form of accountability to the standards of governance. A vision statement for the PAP is crucial in responding to the challenges of globalisation, promoting democracy, strengthening economic growth, ensuring broad participation and establishing a common agenda for social and economic development. Working together would only serve to strengthen the African continent. The vision statement reflects the meeting of minds.