The first ever full session of the new Pan-African parliament of the African Union (AU) started on Thursday this week with five MPs form Namibia attending. The parliament has its seat in South Africa at the Gallagher Estate between Johannesburg and Pretoria centre. It was transformed into a parliamentary Chamber where 265 members of parliament from 53 African countries have their seats. Until the end of 2005, sessions will be held there before a new building is built there to house the PAP until 2009 and then a permanent home has to be found. There are no on-site accommodations for the MPs - five from each of the 53 countries

The parliament is expected to sit all-day Monday to Thursday and finish at noon on Fridays to allow Muslim members to attend the mosque. Interpreters for Arabic, English, French, Portuguese and Swahili have been recruited.

All MPs have a five-year mandate. At least one of the five members must be a woman. So far, 46 countries have ratified the protocols of the PAP, so that 230 representatives will have full member status. The countries that must ratify the parliament’s protocol are: Ivory Coast, DRC, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Somalia and Sao Tome and Principe. During the first 5-year period, the Pan-African Parliament will only play an advisory role and has no legislative powers. It will be free to debate and adopt resolutions on human rights issues, democracy, good governance and the rule of law. Decisions are reached by consensus or a two-third majority of all members present. This session runs until October 7 and a second session will take place in December. South Africa is footing pays for hosting the parliament including security, the lease of an auditorium and office space costing about N$61 million for the first year.