Egypt regains membership in African Union

Ahram Online, Tuesday 17 Jun 2014

Egypt's membership to the African Union - suspended after the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi last year - has been unfrozen by council

African Union
File photo: A general view shows the opening session of Heads of States and Government of the African Union (Photo: Reuters)

The African Union's Peace and Security Council has unanimously agreed to unfreeze Egypt's membership to the AU, state news agency MENA reported on Tuesday.

The decision comes after almost a year of Egypt being suspended from the 54-nation bloc just days after the overthrow of president Mohamed Morsi, citing a need to restore "constitutional order". It is the AU's policy to suspend any member state that undergoes an "unconstitutional" change of government.

However, in April – a few weeks before the presidential election which brought Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi to power – AU head Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma said that Egypt would return to the union after the implementation of its transitional roadmap.

Egypt has so far finalised two out of three milestones of its post-Morsi roadmap, ratifying a new constitution in January and electing a new president in May.

The last step is the election of a parliament, the procedures for which must commence before 17 July, according to 2014's amended national charter.

On Sunday, El-Sisi was invited to attend an extraordinary African Summit taking place in Ouagadougou on 6-7 September.

 

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