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By Byron Adonis Mutingwende (Editor, Spiked Africa Online)
The Pan-African Parliament (PAP) was established to embody the voice of the African people in the African Union’s institutional framework. Yet, for all its promise, its rules on term limits risk undermining both its democratic legitimacy and its operational effectiveness.
Two complementary reforms deserve serious consideration: aligning the term of office of ordinary PAP Members with the term of their national Parliaments, and extending the Bureau’s leadership term from three to five years to match African parliamentary cycles.
Democratic legitimacy demands that PAP membership mirror national elections.
Under Article 5 of its Protocol, PAP members are selected from among the members of their national Parliaments. However, once appointed to PAP, they currently serve a term that does not necessarily end when their national parliamentary mandate ends.
This creates a fundamental problem of legitimacy. National Parliaments change after elections. If a country’s PAP delegation does not change to reflect the new composition, it becomes democratically disconnected from the will of the people.
The principle underlying Article 12(3)—which currently limits the Bureau’s term of office to three years renewable once—is precisely to ensure rotation, renewal, and accountability. These values should extend to ordinary PAP Members too. Aligning their terms with national parliamentary terms would guarantee that only those who hold the people’s mandate at home can represent them in PAP.
Beyond legitimacy, such synchronization would prevent entrenchment and stagnation. If national MPs lose their seats, they should automatically lose their PAP membership. This ensures regular turnover, fresh ideas, and a closer connection between national politics and continental policymaking.
Moreover, this alignment would enhance accountability. Just as the Bureau’s limited term ensures its members must perform well or be replaced, so too would synchronized terms ensure ordinary MPs remain accountable to voters. In short, this reform would strengthen the PAP’s credibility as a truly representative, democratic institution of the African Union.
At the same time, the Bureau’s leadership term deserves an extension to 5 years.
Ironically, while ordinary MPs’ terms are currently not linked to national cycles, the Bureau’s term is arguably too short. Article 12(3) fixes it at three years (renewable once), even though most African Parliaments—and national executive offices—operate on a five-year cycle.
This creates misalignment and instability. The Bureau is the leadership core of the PAP, responsible for setting its agenda, guiding its deliberations, and implementing its decisions. Complex continental policy agendas and AU strategic plans often run on five-year cycles. A three-year term disrupts continuity, forces frequent elections and political bargaining, and undermines the effective implementation of PAP’s vision.
Extending the Bureau’s term to five years would harmonize it with national parliamentary cycles, fostering institutional stability and predictability. It would give PAP leaders the time to plan, consult, negotiate, and implement meaningful continental initiatives without the disruption of mid-cycle leadership contests.
Such an extension would also strengthen leadership legitimacy. A Bureau whose term matches that of most national parliaments would be seen as more stable, predictable, and legitimate in the eyes of Member States. It would align PAP with other AU organs, such as the African Union Commission, whose Chairperson and Commissioners typically serve four- or five-year terms.
Finally, this reform would prepare the PAP for its evolving role. As the institution moves toward acquiring full legislative powers under the Malabo Protocol, it will need a stable, effective Bureau to manage complex negotiations, policy formulation, and continental oversight.
In short, a dual reform is needed.
First, ordinary Members of the Pan-African Parliament should have terms that automatically end with their national parliamentary terms, ensuring democratic legitimacy, accountability, and a direct connection to the will of the African people.
Second, the Bureau’s term should be extended from three to five years, giving the leadership team the time and stability needed to deliver on the Parliament’s ambitious agenda and align with Africa’s standard political cycles.
These reforms would strengthen the Pan-African Parliament, making it more democratic, more effective, and better able to represent the continent’s citizens in the halls of the African Union.
It is time to make PAP truly worthy of its mandate as the voice of the African people.
