Alpha Omar Konare, the former president of Mali, looked highly likely on Tuesday to be elected chairman of the African Union Commission, a key job in the pan-African grouping as it tries to drag the continent out of its cycle of conflict and poverty.
The job has been held on an interim basis by Amara Essy of the Ivory Coast since the African Union (AU) was formed last year, replacing the Organisation of African Union (OAU).
But Essy abandoned his bid for re-election on Monday, leaving Konare as the only candidate for the job, which will be decided at a summit meeting of African leaders in Maputo, Mozambique later this week.
”After intense political wheeling and dealing, the African leaders seem to have arrived at a consensus before the Maputo meeting for Konare to be the single candidate,” said one southern African diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity.
He said many African heavyweights, including South Africa, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and Senegal, had already decided in favour of Konare, and had brought most of the smaller countries in their wake.
Konare, who ruled Mali for two decades and stepped down at the end of his second term, is a well-respected leader in Africa, capable of speaking to heads of state on an equal basis.
If Konare is confirmed as the single candidate, it will avert what diplomats earlier feared could lead to a deadlock at the Maputo meeting.
African politicians have stressed the need for a candidate with enough clout to resolve Africa’s interminable civil conflicts. But some leaders may be concerned that the commission chairman could become too powerful.
President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast said a chief of state should not contest a ”subaltern” position that, he said, should be left to diplomats. Gbagbo had supported Essy, a former foreign minister of Ivory Coast.
Essy was also formerly the secretary general of the OAU, the ”dictator’s club” that preceded the African Union, which is intended to be oriented towards people and democracy.
The African Union is modelled on the European Union, and Konare, if elected, would occupy a position analagous to that of Romano Prodi.
As a former Italian prime minister, Prodi was chosen because of his ability to deal with other leaders on an equal basis.
Former president of Sao Tome and Principe, Miguel Trovoada, also had expressed interest in the Commmission post, but his candidature arrived too late, diplomats said. His country is also in arrears with dues payments to the AU.
Although Africa has twice as many nations as the enlarged European Union, it will have only 10 commission members, half as many as the EU.
Another difference is that half of those members will have to be women, on the demand of South Africa, which currently holds the presidency of the African Union.
The commission will also be required to represent the five regions of Africa on an equal basis. Candidates from Rwanda and Zambia are contesting the position of commission vice-president.
The commission members will be chosen at the summit meeting, during which President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa will pass the presidency to President Joachim Chissano of Mozambique. – Sapa-AFP