Qaddafi, as New African Union Head, Will Seek Single State
By LYDIA POLGREEN
New York Times February 2, 2009
DAKAR, Senegal — President Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya was named chairman of the African Union on Monday, wresting control of a body he helped found and has long wanted to remake in his pan-African image.
His installation as the new head of the 53-member body resembled more of a coronation than a democratic transfer of power. Colonel Qaddafi was dressed in flowing gold robes and surrounded by traditional African leaders who hailed him as the “king of kings.”
The choice of Colonel Qaddafi was not a surprise — he was the leading candidate — but the prospect of his election to lead the African Union caused some unease among some of the group’s member nations, who were meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, as well as among diplomats and analysts. Colonel Qaddafi, who has ruled Libya with an iron hand for decades, is a stark change from the succession of recent leaders from democratic countries like Tanzania, Ghana and Nigeria.
Colonel Qaddafi is an ardent supporter of a long-held dream of transforming Africa, a collection of post-colonial fragments divided by borders that were drawn arbitrarily by Western powers, into a vast, unified state that could play a powerful role in global affairs. He has repeatedly proposed immediate unity and the establishment of a single currency, army and passport for the entire continent. He pledged Monday to bring up the issue for a vote at the African Union’s next summit meeting, in July.
While a few African leaders share his passion and his timetable for this pan-African vision, most prefer a go-slow approach, given the political realities that have emerged in the half-century since most of Africa became independent.
“In principle, we said the ultimate is the United States of Africa,” said Tanzania’s president, Jakaya Kikwete, the previous African Union chairman, according to the BBC. “How we proceed to that ultimate — there are building blocks.”
Colonel Qaddafi’s new role comes alongside a changing of the guard in Africa. A set of leaders once hailed as new visionaries or cursed as dictators have left the continent’s stage, and a jumbled array of new leaders have emerged. But few match the global or continental influence and heft of those who have departed.
The cerebral Thabo Mbeki, one of the architects of what was supposed to be a club of democratic, corruption-free African countries, was hounded out of office in South Africa by his own party amid a shower of international criticism of his handling of everything from the AIDS pandemic to the crisis in Zimbabwe.
Olusegun Obasanjo, Nigeria’s globetrotting military-ruler-turned-democrat and continental power broker, stepped down in 2007 when his two terms were up. His replacement, Umaru Yar’Adua, a sickly and little known former state governor, has struggled to fill Mr. Obasanjo’s global statesman-size shoes.
In December, Ghana, a bellwether for the state of democracy and economic progress in Africa, held a successful election in which the party of John Kufuor, a darling of foreign donors that keep the country afloat, was defeated by a two-time also-ran from the largest opposition party.
And Guinea’s longtime strongman, Lansana Conté, the subject of one of Africa’s longest deathwatches, died late last year, and a military junta seized power, throwing the country into confusion.
Colonel Qaddafi has been trying to remake his image in recent years, cooperating with the United States and Europe on nuclear weapons, terrorism and immigration issues. How he plans to use the post as chairman of the African Union is unclear.
“It remains to be seen if he is capable of being serious about anything,” said J. Stephen Morrison, director of the Africa program at the Center for International and Strategic Studies, a research institution. But Mr. Qaddafi has been a behind-the-scenes player in many African conflicts and intrigues, and persuading him to use his power and influence for the continent’s benefit could help, Mr. Morrison said.
“The Libyans may want to show some utility in their leadership,” he said. “They have got cash they can use. They have an intelligence service they can use. They have got oil. This is a continent that is really hurting right now. I wonder to what degree people looked at this and thought it may be goofy, but maybe something good will come out of this.”
A version of this article appeared in print on February 3, 2009, on page A9 of the New York edition.
POLITICS
ECONOMICS/FINANCE
SOCIETY
ENTERTAINMENT
WOMEN
CONTACT US
Wednesday 04 February 2009
The African Union summit in Addis Ababa is being extended to Wednesday, after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's plans for a "United States of Africa" created deep divisions among the bloc's members.
REUTERS - Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was elected chairman
of the African Union in Addis Ababa on Monday and made clear he would pursue
his vision of a United States of Africa despite reluctance from many members.
Resplendent in golden robes and cap and hailed as "king of
kings" by traditional African leaders who accompanied him,
Gaddafi accepted a gavel from the outgoing chairman, Tanzanian
President Jakaya Kikwete, at a summit in Ethiopia.
He told fellow summit leaders that his project to create a
united continental government would be approved at the next
meeting in July unless there was a majority against it.
The AU normally relies on consensus in reaching decisions.
"If we don't have a quorum for rejection, that means we have
accepted it," Gaddafi said.
"There is a rule in Islam. It is that silence is approval.
If you say something to somebody and he is silent then it means
that he has accepted."
Gaddafi's election was treated almost like a coronation by a
group of customary African leaders dressed in colourful robes
and headgear who accompanied him to the conference hall.
"On behalf of the traditional kings, on behalf of all the
sultans, on behalf of all the princes, on behalf of all the
customary rulers, I want to say thank you to the King of Kings
who we have now crowned," declared one of them, King Tossoh
Gbaguidi of Benin.
The group, said to represent all Africa's customary rulers,
attended a conference sponsored by Gaddafi in Libya last
September and he flew them to Addis Ababa for the summit.
Gaddafi, supported by some AU members like Senegal's
Abdoulaye Wade, has been pushing for a unity government for
years, saying it is the only way to meet the challenges of
globalisation, fighting poverty and resolving conflicts without
Western interference.
South African opposition
But others, led by regional economic powerhouse South
Africa, see the idea as a distant and impractical prospect that
would infringe the sovereignty of member states, although all 53
members of the AU say they agree with the idea in principle.
Gaddafi spent three decades preaching Arab unity before
turning most of his attention to the African project, saying the
continent was closer to him than Middle Eastern countries who
had rebuffed his attempts to forge union.
One delegate, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters:
"African countries should work closer together, yes. But a
United States of Africa is not something that could happen
overnight. Many countries have reservations."
He said Gaddafi's election would not change the situation.
An often heated three-day summit devoted to Gaddafi's
project in Ghana in 2007 did not reach a deal despite the
participants being berated by the fiery Libyan leader.
The first day of this summit on Sunday again pulled back
from accelerating the process.
Kikwete told reporters the meeting had agreed to replace the
African Union Commission with an "authority" rather than an
immediate pan-regional government as it had proposed. This would
be launched at the next summit in July.
He said this would move it closer to a federal government
but he was vague on how much real new power the authority would
have.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has described the African Union as a failure and vowed to press ahead with plans for a single African government.
BBC News Tuesday, 26 June 2007
Speaking in Guinea's capital, Conakry, Mr Gaddafi said there was no future for individual African nation states.
He urged leaders attending next month's African Union summit in Ghana to decide to create a United States of Africa.
Mr Gaddafi has long been a leading proponent of the idea, but some observers say it is not realistic.
"At the Accra summit we are going to get straight to the point. Let those who are hesitating, get out of our way," he told tens of thousands of people at a rally in Conakry.
"For 40 years all the summits have failed," he said. "Our micro-states have no future."
Greeting
The Libyan leader went on to visit Sierra Leone where hundreds of people came out onto the streets of the capital, Freetown, to greet him, despite allegations that he supported the notorious Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during the country's brutal civil war.
Opposition leader Charles Magai said he felt Mr Gaddafi should not have been invited.
"If I were president of Sierra Leone I would only say to him that the people of Sierra Leone do not welcome you at this point in time. He should first of all apologise to the people and then the question of reparation could be considered," Mr Magai told the BBC.
The BBC's Umaru Fofana in Freetown says Mr Gaddafi has pumped a lot of money into Sierra Leone, especially in the last year.
Our correspondent says it is a strategy that seems to have paid off as many people seemed to agree with the red-carpet treatment he is receiving.
"He's going around promoting peace in Africa so I think he deserves a welcome," one man said as Mr Gaddafi arrived.
"I agree he supported them (the RUF) initially because he was thinking they were on a just cause and later when he saw that they have diverted from what initially they wanted to do, I think he moved away from them."
After Sierra Leone, Mr Gaddafi goes to Ivory Coast before travelling to the summit in Accra.
The idea of a single pan-African government was first promoted by Kwame Nkrumah, who led Ghana to independence in 1957.
©2003 The African Independent, Inc. All rights to republication are reserved.
