Dylan Bettencourt
Violence broke out during the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) on Tuesday, following a dispute over the electoral format.
The PAP was due to elect new leadership. However, a letter sent from the African Union to the parliament which challenged the voting reform procedure halted the process.
The southern African delegation refused to go ahead with the vote as they demanded a rotational presidency. West and east African delegates demanded the voting procedure continue.
The PAP’s current leadership is led by a bureau that includes a president and four vice-presidents that each represent a geographical region.
However, the chaos has been caused by the southern African nations calling for a change in this format. They believe the leadership should be on a rotational policy, similar to the African Union or have the leadership voted in via a ballot.
Monday saw violence ensue over this decision with many members of the parliament seen throwing chairs and tables. Djibril War, a representative from Senegal kicked South African representative, Pemmy Majondina during a scuffle.
Majondina has since stated that she will open a case of assault with the police.
Violence has been the theme of the PAP as Julius Malema was last week heard threatening to kill a member of the parliament: “I will kill you outside, I will kill you. You do not know me,” reported by Scrolla.Africa on 28 May.
The ANC Women’s league today called for the PAP to take action against anybody guilty of gender-based violence. They have labelled the incident between Majondina and War as ‘un-African’ and needed to be taken care of with some form of authority.
The parliamentary session began on 21 May and will run until 4 June with the election of new leadership its key objective.
Image source: @TimesLIVE
Video source: @trtworld
