Assembly of the African Union in the context of "Pan-African Parliament"

The African Union (AU) is a continental union of 55 member states located on the continent of Africa. The AU was announced in the Sirte Declaration in Sirte, Libya, on 9 September 1999, calling for the establishment of the African Union. The bloc was launched on 9 July 2002 in Durban, South Africa. The intention of the AU was to replace the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), established on 25 May 1963 in Addis Ababa by 32 signatory governments; the OAU was disbanded on 9 July 2002. The most important decisions of the AU are made by the Assembly of the African Union, a semi-annual meeting of the heads of state and government of its member states.

The AU's secretariat, the African Union Commission, is based in Addis Ababa. The largest city in the AU is Lagos, Nigeria, while the largest urban agglomeration is Cairo, in Egypt. The African Union has more than 1.3 billion people and an area of around 30 million km (12 million sq mi) and includes world landmarks such as the Sahara and the Nile. The primary working languages are Arabic, English, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swahili. Within the African Union, there are official bodies, such as the Peace and Security Council and the Pan-African Parliament.

The Sirte Declaration was the resolution adopted by the Organisation of African Unity on 9 September 1999, at the fourth Extraordinary Session of the OAU Assembly of African Heads of State and Government held at Sirte, Libya. The Declaration announced decisions to:

• establish the African Union
• speed up the implementation of the provisions of the Abuja Treaty, to create an African Economic Community, African Central Bank, African Monetary Union, African Court of Justice and Pan-African Parliament, with the Parliament to be established by 2000
• prepare a Constitutive Act of the African Union that can be ratified by 31 December 2000 and become effective the following year
• give President Abdelaziz Bouteflika of Algeria and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa a mandate to negotiate for the cancellation of the African indebtedness
• convene an African Ministerial Conference on security, stability, development and co-operation

The Declaration was followed by summits at Lomé in 2000, when the Constitutive Act of the African Union was adopted, and at Lusaka in 2001, when the plan for the implementation of the African Union was adopted. The first session of the Assembly of the African Union was held in Durban on 9 July 2002.

The Chairperson of the African Union is the ceremonial head of the African Union (AU) elected by the Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a one-year term. It rotates among the continent's five regions.

A candidate must be selected by consensus or at least two-thirds majority vote by member states. The chairperson is expected to complete the term without interruption; hence countries with impending elections may be ineligible.

The Executive Council Union African Union, formally the Executive Council of Ministers of the Union, is one of the seven institutions of the African Union as described in the Constitutive Act of the African Union.

According to the Constitutive Act, the Executive Council is subordinate to the Assembly of the African Union. Somewhat akin to the European Council, the Council elects members to the Commission of the African Union, which is the Union's executive branch. Despite its name, the Executive Council has no executive power. Instead, the Council executes its policy through the Commission and various executive branches of its members states.

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission is the head of the African Union Commission (AUC). They are the Chief Executive Officer, legal representative of the African Union (AU), and the Commission’s Chief Accounting Officer. They are elected for a four-year term, renewable once, by the Assembly of the African Union.

The position was preceded by the Secretary General of the OAU, and the role became more powerful upon the formation of the AU. The Chairperson is responsible for the Commission's finances and administration, promoting its objectives, dealing with key stakeholders (member states, development partners, regional blocs etc.), appointing and managing Commission staff, and storing AU and OAU treaties and legal instruments.