* Ping fails to win outright majority
* South Africa suffers diplomatic blow
(Recasts with extension of Ping’s mandate, adds diplomat)
By Yara Bayoumy and Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, Jan 30 (Reuters) – The African Union
extended the mandate of its commission chief after failing to
elect a new head on Monday, highlighting the weakness of a group
criticised for slow decision-making during political turmoil on
the continent last year.
Former South African Foreign Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
was up against incumbent commission chairman Jean Ping of Gabon,
who failed to win an outright majority in four rounds of voting.
After hours of deliberations during which South Africa’s
foreign minister said the deputy chairman would take over as
interim commission chief, the African Union said it had decided
to extend Ping’s mandate for a further six months until the next
summit in Malawi in June.
“The elections were suspended in line with the provisions of
our statute so we took the decision to extend the term of office
of the chairperson, the deputy and his commissioners,” AU
chairman Benin President Boni Yayi told reporters through a
translator.
The commission is the AU secretariat’s top organ and the
chair its public face.
A Western diplomat said the divisions showed how the power
balance had shifted in the continent after the death of one of
its main patrons, former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. The AU
was founded at a summit in his hometown of Sirte.
Continued…
