A crucial body at the African Union Commission- the Permanent Representatives Committee (PRC)- met Wednesday and agreed on various recommendations that now gives former Prime Minister Raila Odinga a green light to run for the position of chairman.
The recommendations will be incorporated in the Draft Decision to be presented to the Executive Council to meet.
Raila has declared interest in running for the position and has so far been backed by regional states.
The PRC agreed on Approach 2 option (b), which means that Eastern Africa region will be eligible to nominate candidates for the position of chairperson while the Northern Africa region will be eligible to nominate candidates for the position of Deputy Chairperson.
It said the Intra-regional rotation should be based on regional consultations and not on the English alphabetical order.
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The PRC agreed on non-application of gender rotation in the application of the principle of rotational gender parity.
The PRC position aligns with Kenya’s interpretation of this principle.
Thus, both Eastern and Northern Africa regions are at liberty to nominate candidates of either gender for the posts of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson respectively in the AUC election 2025.
On the allocation of Commissioner’s Portfolios, the e six Commissioner posts will be open for competition by candidates nominated by the three remaining regions (Central, Southern and Western Africa regions).
The method of the polls had been shrouded with confusion.
