Egypt elected to chair AU Assembly in 2019: sources

CAIRO – 28 January 2018: Egypt has been elected as chair of the African Union Assembly of Heads of State and Government for a one-year term in 2019, according to diplomatic sources. This decision was made during a closed meeting on AU institutional reform before the opening session of the 30th Africa Union (AU) summit convened on Sunday.

The assembly consists of the 54 heads of state, and meets once a year at the AU Summit. The current Chairman of the Assembly is President Paul Kagame of Rwanda.

The assembly is the AU’s supreme council as it establishes its priorities, adopts its annual program and monitors the implementation of its policies and decisions.

The meeting consisted of discussions over the summit’s agenda content, mainly the institutional reform in the African Union. President Sisi praised the efforts assumed by President of the Republic of Guinea Alpha Conde while chairing the assembly last year, and by Rwandan president in that regard.

President Sisi suggested that the decision-making process passes through different levels within the AU for review and auditing before it is endorsed by state leaders instead of being totally exclusive to the assembly whose decisions may not be subject to comment by any beneath entities.

President Sisi arrived in Addis Ababa on Saturday and held a series of bilateral meetings with some African leaders on the sidelines of the AU summit, which is attended by 55 African leaders.

Sisi also chaired a meeting of the Peace and Security Council of the AU on Sunday, as he emphasized the international community’s increasing awareness of the importance of intensifying efforts to combat terrorism, as it is imposing a real threat on the international peace and security.