Chairperson, the tenure of the PAP appears to be less effective than it could be, and it occupies a more marginal position in the policy-making process of the continent. To a certain extent this has been attributed to its lack of legislative powers and its weak decision-making role within the AU governance structure.
On the other hand, the PAP has not been entirely convincing in demonstrating its readiness to acquire legislative powers and the effect that such powers would have in facilitating a much more democratic but accountable African governance. The PAP has also not been convincing in demonstrating institutional readiness to have legislative powers. Thus it would rather be ideal to first build its institutional capacity and strengthen its current roles.
However, if there is an insistence on having the PAP transformed into a legislative organ, there are existing regional legislative bodies on the continent, and the East African Legislative Assembly seems to stand out as having significant legislative powers.
Lastly, if the PAP's institutional capacity is to be beefed up to meet the powers envisaged, then its lack of financial independence, among other things, needs to be rectified.
Hon Chairperson and hon members, article 11 of the Protocol to the Treaty Establishing the African Economic Community Relating to the Pan-African Parliament envisages a stage in the evolution of the PAP when it can be assigned legislative powers. The definition of this progressive competence is left to the AU Assembly to decide.
In line with this mandate, the AU commissioned a study on the review of the PAP Protocol. The terms of reference for the study required the AU Commission consultant to consider and make concrete recommendations on whether the PAP should be given full legislative powers and to advise on the implications thereof, as well as to propose a timeframe for doing so, taking into account the structures and capacities within the PAP.
The transformation of the PAP into a legislative organ is an important priority for the PAP as a legislature. During the second ordinary session of the second parliament, members of the PAP stated that it was their wish to transform the PAP into a legislative body by at least the year 2011, which has passed. However, the successful transformation of the PAP into a legislative organ largely depends on whether the PAP is able to speedily and successfully solve existing challenges. Thus, in the interim, the PAP will continue to exercise advisory and consultative powers only.
This brief provides an update of progress to date in the review of the PAP Protocol, as well as existing challenges faced by the PAP that should be taken into account during the review process. During the PAP parliamentary meeting on the transformation of the PAP and domestication of AU decisions, which was held in Uganda from 16 to 17 July 2010, the report of honourable Ismal Tidjani Serpos, then the chairperson of the PAP Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline, revealed the following challenges, as outlined in the PAP self-evaluation report compiled between March and May 2009: the absence of or inadequate procedural mechanisms to co-ordinate the PAP's relations with the other AU organs; the unstable nature of the functions of members of the PAP resulting from the overlap between their PAP and national mandates; the nondetermination of the duration of a PAP parliamentary term and that of its organs; the absence of a mechanism to interface with regional and national parliaments; inadequate financial and material resources for the PAP in relation to its mission; and strains on the implementation of the protocol, resulting in a number of challenges.
These include: the nonsubmission of the AU budget for prior consideration by the PAP within the context of the institutional framework of the AU; the unavailability of certain officers of the AU Commission to lend their support to the accomplishment of the duties of the parliament; the poor implementation of article 12 of the protocol, particularly subsection 12(10), which relates to the filling of vacancies in the offices of the members of the PAP Bureau; the quantitative and qualitative weaknesses of the permanent staff of the secretariat, particularly in the area of assistance to permanent committees, translation, Hansards and research; the nonpermanent nature of the Bureau at the seat of the parliament, as the Bureau of the PAP is not seated permanently at the PAP headquarters but its members only come to attend meetings or when there is a need for them to meet; difficulties in the implementation of certain provisions of the protocol in the domain of oversight and harmonisation of laws of member states due to the lack of operational mechanisms; poor visibility and insufficient dissemination of information on the PAP; inadequate AU administrative procedures for parliamentary procedures; and total ignorance at the level of the PAP on feedback from AU organs regarding the numerous recommendations made in various domains.
Concerning the second PAP evaluation report, on a positive note, the report of the honourable Ismal Tidjani Serpos also revealed that the second evaluation of the PAP, conducted from 28 May 2009, is characterised by the continuation of the positive achievements and the rectification of the above-mentioned challenges. These achievements include the election of the new Bureau of the PAP on 28 May 2008, as well as the following achievements both at a structural and policy level.
At the structural level, according to the report, the outgoing president of the PAP, Dr Idriss Moussa Ndl, has reallocated duties by entrusting tasks to each of the vice-presidents. In other words, each and every vice- president has a particular task to perform. A committee on administrative and financial evaluation, with a two-year mandate, was established. In line with the cleaning up of the administrative management of the PAP, the bureau has submitted the organisational structure of the institution to the subcommittee of the AU in charge of structures.
At the policy level, according to the report, the president of the PAP, among others, attended the 2009 Speakers' Conference held in Midrand from 8 to 9 October 2009. The conference was aimed at formally linking the PAP with national parliaments. Now, from the above report, delivered by honourable Ismal Tidjani Serpos, it is evident that the transformation of the PAP into a legislative organ is high on the agenda of the PAP. Furthermore, as revealed by the above-mentioned PAP self-assessment, the PAP understands that they would have to eliminate existing problems and be ready to assume their legislative status.
Regarding a road map for the review of the PAP Protocol, since the development of the terms of reference for the review of the PAP Protocol, the AU Commission has convened on several occasions. For instance, the AU Commission convened on 10 and 11 May 2010 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to reflect and consult on the review processes. The meeting agreed on a road map for the revision of the protocol in the following five stages: stage one, to finalise and submit the report of the consultant to the AU Commission; stage two, to have a consultation meeting on the draft revised protocol proposed by the consultant; stage three, to conduct a meeting of government experts of member states; stage four, to conduct a meeting of the Ministers of Justice, prosecutors and attorneys-general of member states; and, lastly, stage five, to submit the draft revised protocol to the legislative organs of the AU through the Permanent Representative Committee.
The implementation of the above-mentioned road map has led to the convening of a series of validation meetings of the PAP at both the AU headquarters and the PAP headquarters in Midrand. Concerning the focus areas, the review process specifically focused on the following nine areas: the number of members representing each state party, the mode of appointing members of the PAP, the duration of the mandate of members of the PAP, the duration of the legislature of the PAP, terms of office of organs of the PAP, functions and powers of the PAP, the legislative initiative, relations between the PAP and other organs of the AU, and the accountability of the AU to the