AUC election sees intense regional contest

ADDIS ABABA: THE race for the top positions in the African Union Commission (AUC) continues to rock Addis Ababa going into the polls later today.

 A candidate for the chairperson post of the African Union Commission (AUC) must receive the support of at least 33 countries to win the position.

This election could take up to three rounds if the threshold is not met in the first round of voting. In the first round—usually conducted by secret ballot—all candidates are included on the ballot paper. If no candidate achieves the 33 votes out of the 49 participating countries by the third round, the ballot will be reduced to the top two candidates.

This year, seven countries will not participate in the vote due to their suspension following the lack of constitutional governance. These countries are Burkina Faso, Chad, Gabon, Guinea, Mali, Sudan, and Niger.

The 2025 election is scheduled to take place during the 38th AU Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The main candidates are Raila Odinga (Kenya), Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (Djibouti), and Richard Randriamandrato (Madagascar).

Candidates for the position of Deputy Chairperson of the AUC include Salah Francis (Algeria), Selma Malika (Algeria), Mohamed Fathi (Egypt), Hana Morsy (Egypt), Najat Elhajjaji (Libya), and Latifa Akharbach (Morocco).

Voting will begin with the election of the Chairperson of the Commission, followed by that of the Deputy Chairperson. Afterward, Parliament will elect the Commissioners appointed by the AU Assembly to oversee the Chairperson’s election.

This election follows the regional rotation rule, ensuring fair representation across Africa’s five regions: Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern, and Western Africa.

For the 2025 election, the Eastern region has nominated candidates for the Chairperson, while the Northern region has nominated candidates for the Deputy Chairperson position.

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For Deputy Chairpersons of the AUC, each region must nominate both male and female candidates to promote gender equality.

The chairperson and their Deputy cannot come from the same region to ensure diversity. They serve a four-year term, which may be extended once.

If no candidate achieves two-thirds of the votes after three rounds, the candidate with the fewest votes will be required to withdraw. The remaining candidate must obtain the necessary votes; otherwise, the election will be suspended, and the Deputy Chairperson will assume leadership temporarily.

In the election of the AUC Chairperson, voting continues until one candidate achieves two-thirds of the votes. If only two candidates remain and neither achieves two-thirds, the candidate with the fewest votes will withdraw.

If only one candidate remains and fails to secure two-thirds by the third round, the Chairperson will suspend the voting process. In such a scenario, the Deputy Chairperson will temporarily take over the role of Chairperson until a new election is held.

If this deadlock occurs for the Deputy Chairperson’s position, the senior-most commissioner will be appointed to temporarily assume the position until a new election is conducted.

In 2017, Amina Mohamed from Kenya received 16 votes in the first round, while Moussa Faki received 14 votes, with the remaining votes divided among other candidates.