South African Parliamentary Speaker Frene Ginwala hinted on Friday that she might not take up a senior post with the Pan African Parliament (PAP) if the seat is given to South Africa.
She said she personally believed that a seat or leadership of an international institution should not be placed in one country.
”I don’t think it is very democratic,” she said, adding that South Africa is supported by the Southern African Development Community to be the seat of the PAP.
Certain quarters have suggested that Ginwala should be given the top job and South Africa should become the seat of the body.
Each of the five regions of the African Union must nominate a member from that region to serve on the leadership bureau of the PAP.
A president and four vice-presidents of the continental body will be elected at the inaugural session of the PAP in Ethiopia on Wednesday next week, she said.
”The seat of the PAP will be determined by heads of states in July,” Ginwala told reporters at the Gauteng legislature.
Egypt, Libya and South Africa were the only three countries on the continent competing to become the seat of the PAP.
But there was consensus that each region of the AU should have some organ to help build unity among Africans, Ginwala said.
Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano will open the inaugural session of the PAP, and Ethiopian President Hosni Mubarak is expected to address the delegates.
After the two leaders have spoken at the meeting, the president and his four vice-presidents will be elected into office.
Thirty-nine out of 53 countries on the continent have ratified the PAP and 30 of them will be sending the five designated members to attend the session.
Ginwala, National Council of Provinces deputy chairperson Mninwa Mahlangu, African National Congress MP Nomakhosazana Njobe, New National Party MP Boy Geldenhuys and Hariett Ngubane of the Inkatha Freedom Party will attend the event on behalf of South Africa.
The PAP will become a consultative and advisory body for the first five years of its existence and its members will meet twice a year during that period, she said. — Sapa