AU Commission Blamed for Failed Deal

(PANA)--The African Union Commission (AUC) is to blame for the failure by African leaders to agree on the modalities for forming a Union Government at the end of their 12th summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

‘You could not get the agreement overnight. We needed to change the system from a Commission into an Authority but the problem was lack of any detailed work on the amendment of the Constitutive Act of the AU, which forced the leaders to seek an amendment,’ a ministerial source told PANA Wednesday.

African leaders extended their discussions till the early hours of Wednesday on the modalities of setting up a Union Government, starting with the transformation of the AUC to the African Union Authority within six months, and moving it to a federal government, with a mandate to coordinate cross-border issues concerning Africa. AUC Chairperson Jean Ping told journalists early Wednesday that the African leaders agreed on the need to create the AU Authority, but could not agree on the modalities for setting it up, forcing the extension of the closing ceremony of the 12th assembly by an extra day.

While African leaders faced up with the lack of clarity on the transformation of the AUC into an Authority and asked the Commission to suggest ways of dealing with the issue, AU Chairman Muammar Gaddafi, insisted that a deal clearing the way for the launching of the Authority had to be reached. ‘We rejected this agreement of creating a government or an Authority without power to govern. You cannot create a government that is weak in its mandate,’ a Kenyan government official said.

The official, who dismissed a working draft document on the Union Government as a ‘farce’, said the leaders demanded an amendment to the Constitutive Act and asked to be given more time to consult with their parliaments on the formation of the AU Authority. ‘The failure to reach a deal was caused by the rush to get out of the door. Sometimes you rush and you forget to see the door,’ a Cameroonian diplomat told PANA, explaining that the AUC did not work out the details of transforming the Commission into an Authority and providing details on the legal reforms.

African leaders retreated into a separate room as their foreign ministers, who constitute the Executive Council, met to also work out details of transforming the current portfolios of the Commission into some 14 ministries, to be manned by Secretaries. But the differences widened further during the private session, with discussions on the African representation at the UN Security Council and the Palestinian question proving divisive. ‘The issue of a permanent seat for Africa within the UN Security Council and the Palestinian issue led to the prolonged discussions and the disagreement,’ an Ethiopian official told PANA.

The African leaders left the venue of the talks around 2.30 am (1130GMT) Wednesday and agreed to reconvene around 10.00 am (0700GMT) but two hours to the agreed time, only the Libyan leader and four other leaders had arrived at the venue of the talks. ‘The politicians did not care about the legal mechanisms of creating the Authority. The problem came from the Commission itself. It did not prepare the modalities of the transformation,’ the Cameroonian official said. ‘The politicians did not consider the legal consequences.’

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