AU elections could see jockeying

25 January 2016 - 22:23 By TMG Digital
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Elections for the African Union’s Peace and Security Council (PSC) will dominate the proceedings at the 26th AU Summit in Addis Ababa this week.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Image: Getty Images

Amid uncertainty about which candidates will get positions‚ all 15 members of the PSC will be re-elected.

The AU Commission chairperson will also be elected in July this year‚ with uncertainty as to whether South Africa's Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma will stand for re-election. There is a possibility that she will be more involved in South African politics.

According to the Institute for Security Studies: “The 15 members of the PSC – of whom five will serve for three years and 10 will serve for two years – will be elected during the Executive Council meeting of AU foreign ministers on 27 and 28 January.”

The decision will be sent to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for approval on 30 and 31 January.

The PSC makes the final decisions on a wide range of issues‚ such as military action‚ the budgets of peacekeeping forces‚ and sanctions.

A seat on the PSC is important for countries wanting to influence decision-making on the continent‚ and continental heavyweights Nigeria‚ South Africa‚ Ethiopia‚ Algeria and Egypt will vie for seats on the new PSC.

The seats are distributed on a regional basis. South Africa has said that it will not run for re-election on the PSC‚ but there is some uncertainty whether Botswana or Mozambique will get the region’s seat.

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