Inauguration of the CEMAC Parliament in Malabo
On 15 April 2010, the Regional Parliament of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) has formally been inaugurated in the capital of Equatorial Guinea, Malabo.
Since the creation of CEMAC in 1994 as predecessor of UDEAC, the set up of a Community Parliament had been delayed and postponed several times.
Initially, it had been foreseen that a 2004 signed convention regulating the Parliament shall enter into force as soon as it is ratified by all Member States. However, the ratification process took longer than expected. Consequently, several attempts were made to pre-define an official date for the launch of the Parliament. However, all these efforts to encourage an acceleration of the process failed and deadlines had to be postponed several times. During their annual summit in Yaoundé in June 2008, the Heads of State announced to schedule the launch of the CEMAC Parliament for the first trimester of 2009. However once again, the deadline had to be extended and it was agreed to plan the official start for September 2009. On their summit in January 2010, CEMAC’s Heads of State finally agreed to inaugurate the Parliament in March 2009.
The CEMAC Parliament is composed of 30 deputies, five per member states, who are currently selected among national Parliamentarians. It is however foreseen that, in the long run, deputies will be elected for a legislation period of five years in universal direct elections. The Parliament’s President is always the President of the national Parliament of the country that holds the rotating Presidency of the CEMAC conference of Heads of State. The current President is therefore Pierre Ngolo, the First Secretary of the National Assembly of the Republic of the Congo.
Apart from its representative role, the CEMAC Parliament has functions as oversight and control organ, as well as advisory functions combined with a quite limited legislative role. To monitor the functioning of the CEMAC Commission, deputies are empowered to check the reports on the Community’s activities and the yearly use of the budget at the end of the year.
(written by Angela Meyer, IDC, on 27 July 2010 for IDW. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it )