A candidate for the African
Union Commission chairmanship has to garner the support of at least 33 nations
to clinch the seat.
The election can take up to
three rounds if the threshold is not realised in the first round of voting.
In the first round – usually by secret ballot - all the candidates are on the ballot.
If no candidate secures the
required 33 votes out of the 48 participating member states by the third round,
the next ballot is restricted to the top two candidates.
If no candidate achieves the
required thirds after three rounds, the candidate with fewer votes would be
compelled to withdraw.
The remaining candidate has to
secure the required majority lest the election be suspended and the deputy
chairperson assumes interim leadership.
In the election for AUC
chairperson, the balloting continues until one candidate obtains the two-thirds
majority.
Where there are only two
candidates and neither of them obtains the two-thirds, the candidate with fewer
votes shall withdraw.
Where there is only one
candidate and the individual fails to get the two-thirds at the end of round
three, the chairperson shall suspend voting.
In such a case, the deputy
chairperson shall take over the chairmanship of the commission until new
elections are held.
If the stalemate is in respect
of the deputy chairperson, the most senior commissioner shall be designated to
act until new elections are held.
In 2017, Kenya’s Amina Mohamed
garnered 16 votes in the first round against Moussa Faki’s 14. The remaining
votes were split among the other candidates.
Faki was elected in the
seventh round with 38 votes, surpassing the required threshold.
Kenya struggled to secure
support from its EAC neighbours among them Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
This year, seven countries
will not take part in the vote after their suspension for lack of
constitutional order. They 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.
Key candidates include Raila
Odinga (Kenya), Mahmoud Ali Youssouf (Djibouti), and Richard Randriamandrato
(Madagascar).
Candidates for deputy AUC
chairperson include Salah Francis (Algeria), Selma Malika (Algeria), Mohamed
Fathi (Egypt), Hana Morsy (Egypt), Najat Elhajjaji (Libya) and Latifa Akharbach
(Morocco).
The voting shall commence with
the election of the chairperson of the commission followed by the deputy
chairperson.
Thereafter, the assembly shall
appoint the commissioners who were elected by the AU Executive Council to
handle the chairman’s election.
The election follows a
principle of inter-regional rotation, ensuring equitable representation across
Africa’s five regions of Eastern, Northern, Central, Southern, and Western
Africa.
For the 2025 elections, the
Eastern region has nominated candidates for the chairperson while the Northern
region has fronted deputy chairperson candidates.
For the AUC deputies, each
region must submit both male and female candidates to promote gender parity.
The chairperson and deputy
chairperson cannot be from the same region, ensuring diverse representation.
They serve a four-year term, renewable once.
