The Pan-African Parliament: What It Is, Who Sits in It and What It Can Do

The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) is the parliamentary body of the African Union. It was established in March 2004 and has its seat in Midrand, South Africa. Its members are not directly elected: each national parliament of a participating member state sends five of its own members. The PAP's powers are mainly consultative and advisory. It debates, scrutinises and makes recommendations, but it cannot pass laws that bind member states. A 2014 protocol that would give it legislative powers has not yet gained enough ratifications to take effect.

Why the Pan-African Parliament was created

Article 17 of the AU's Constitutive Act provides for a Pan-African Parliament "in order to ensure the full participation of African peoples in the development and economic integration of the continent". It leaves the details of its composition, powers and organisation to a separate protocol. The idea is older than the AU: the Parliament was one of the organs foreseen in the 1991 Abuja Treaty establishing the African Economic Community.

The PAP describes its purpose as giving African peoples and their grassroots organisations a common platform to take part in discussion of the continent's problems. Its stated long-term aim is to become an institution with full legislative powers, whose members are elected by universal adult suffrage.

Who sits in it

Under Article 4 of the establishing protocol, each national parliament is represented by five members, at least one of whom must be a woman. The delegation is supposed to reflect the range of political opinion in that national parliament.

Members are elected or designated by their national parliaments, so a member of the PAP is first of all a member of a national legislature. The PAP's website says that the protocol establishing the Parliament has been ratified by 49 AU member states.

Feature	How it works
Seat	Midrand, South Africa
Established	March 2004
Members per state	Five, at least one a woman
How chosen	Elected or designated by national parliaments
Powers	Consultative and advisory
Working languages	Arabic, English, French and Portuguese

What powers it has

Article 11 of the establishing protocol lists the PAP's functions. They include:

• examining, discussing or giving opinions on any matter, including human rights, democracy, good governance and the rule of law;
• discussing its own budget and the budget of the Community, and making recommendations on them before they are approved;
• working towards the harmonisation and co-ordination of member states' laws;
• promoting the AU's programmes and helping co-ordinate policy with the Regional Economic Communities;
• adopting its own Rules of Procedure and electing its own President.

The common thread is that the PAP advises rather than decides. Its plenary makes recommendations for the attention of the heads of state and government, and the decisions rest with the AU Assembly.

How it differs from a national parliament

• Membership. National parliaments are usually elected by voters. PAP members are chosen by national parliaments from among their own members.
• Law-making. A national parliament passes laws that bind the country. The PAP can examine, debate and give opinions, but it cannot make binding laws for member states.
• Money. A national parliament normally approves the budget. The PAP discusses the AU budget and makes recommendations before it is approved, but under the Constitutive Act the budget is adopted by the AU Assembly.
• Final say. The AU's supreme organ is the Assembly of heads of state and government, not the Parliament.

How it is organised

The Plenary

The Plenary is the full body of members. It considers reports from committees and adopts recommendations. Ordinary sessions of up to a month are held up to twice a year, and extraordinary sessions can be called when needed.

The Bureau

The Bureau is the PAP's leadership: a President and four Vice-Presidents. Its members represent the five regions of the continent.

Committees and caucuses

Detailed work is done in permanent committees, each covering a policy area, which report to the Plenary. Members also meet in caucuses, each with its own bureau of a chairperson, deputy chairperson and rapporteur.

The Secretariat

A Secretariat of staff supports the Parliament's work in Midrand.

The Malabo Protocol: towards law-making powers

On 27 June 2014, at its summit in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, the AU Assembly adopted a new Protocol to the Constitutive Act relating to the Pan-African Parliament, usually called the Malabo Protocol. It would turn the PAP into what the Parliament calls a "fully-fledged legislative body".

The protocol needs ratification by at least 28 member states before it comes into force. As of October 2024, the PAP reported that 15 countries had ratified it. Until the threshold is reached, the PAP continues to work under its original protocol, with advisory powers only.

The Parliament and its supporters present the protocol as the next step towards a body with real influence over AU policy. Ratification, however, is a decision for each government under its own constitutional procedures, and the PAP has itself named the slow pace of ratification and domestication of its protocols as a challenge.

How the PAP fits into the African Union

The PAP is one of the AU's organs, alongside the Assembly, the Executive Council, the Commission and the Peace and Security Council. The AU groups it with the Economic, Social and Cultural Council as a body for participation, rather than decision-making. For the wider structure, see what the African Union is.

Because its mandate covers democracy, good governance and human rights, the PAP also takes an interest in elections: the African Charter on Democracy, Elections and Governance names it among the institutions from which AU election observers can be drawn, and as one of the organs involved in evaluating how the Charter is implemented.