Algeria Elected Vice-President of the African Union Commission
Algeria's ambassador to Addis Ababa and permanent representative to the African Union, Selma Malika Haddadi, defeated the Moroccan candidate on Saturday and was elected Vice-President of the African Union Commission.
Haddadi was elected with a majority of 33 votes, thus obtaining the two-thirds majority required to replace the Rwandan Monique Nsanzabaganwa in this position, whose term had ended, after she managed to defeat the Moroccan candidate who was eliminated in the sixth and penultimate round, the withdrawal of the Libyan candidate from the first round, and the Egyptian candidate from the third round.
Selma Malika Haddadi, 47, was recognized by her peers as a seasoned diplomat with over two decades of experience advocating peace and unity on the continent. From March 2023 to April 2024, she served as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs's Director General for Africa. From 2019 to 2023, she was the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Kenya and South Sudan.
From 2015 to 2019, she served as Minister Counsellor and Deputy Head of Mission at the Algerian Embassy in Ethiopia and the African Union. From 2013 to 2015, she served as Deputy Director of Social Development at the General Directorate of Political Affairs and International Security at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Her main mission in this position was to prepare and coordinate Algeria's participation in global discussions on issues related to the family, women, children, health, youth, persons with disabilities, sports, the elderly and sustainable development goals.
Between 2012 and 2013, Haddadi skillfully led Algeria's Office for Refugees and Stateless Persons at the Directorate General of Legal and Consular Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. She served as an Advisor and Head of the Political Section at the Permanent Mission of Algeria to the United Nations in Geneva.
In this election, Selma Malika Haddadi proposed a new vision based on her 'devotion to Africa' as well as her 'loyalty' and 'commitment' to the African Union. She pledged to refocus the work of the African Union around the objectives set by its founding fathers.
Haddadi pledged to promote the principles of African unity and strengthen the administrative and financial management of the African Union Commission to establish a culture of efficiency, transparency, and accountability at all levels. It should be noted that this project aims to enhance trust and synergy between the Commission and the member states of the African Union.
For the African Union to achieve the goal of ownership of its programmes and aspirations, as defined by the founding fathers and enshrined in Agenda 2063, Ms Haddadi stressed that she would encourage 'the prioritization, activation and strengthening of partnerships with African development bodies and institutions, such as the African Development Bank, the African Export-Import Bank and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD, as the main providers of development projects and funds.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
El Chorouk
5 days ago
- El Chorouk
Debate on Colonial Crimes and Their Impact on the Algerian-French Crisis
In line with the French historian of Algerian origin, Benjamin Stora, who argues that the memory file can help ease tensions between Algeria and Paris, two countries experiencing an unprecedented political and diplomatic crisis, the French capital is hosting a debate on the French colonization of Algeria and its impact on the current disputes between the two capitals. The roundtable discussion will take place on June 14 in Paris, under the title 'The French Colonisation's Past in Algeria and the Current Diplomatic Dispute Between the Two Countries.' It will feature well-known historians, academics, and journalists in France, including Alain Riscio (historian), Jean-Pierre Sereni (journalist at Orient XXI), a French historian of Algerian origin, Nedjib Sidi Moussa, sociologist Aïssa Kadri, jurist Mouloud Boumgar, and moderated by the Egyptian journalist (PhD in French Literature) and editor in chief of the leading newspaper of the Arab and Muslim community. The round table discussion is prepared and organised by the Association for Colonial and Postcolonial History, in collaboration with Orient XXI magazine and , to 'decode the current crisis between France and Algeria.' The Association for Colonial and Postcolonial History is known for its tireless efforts to combat colonialist ideology and call for rectifying the disasters of colonialism by offering an apology to the peoples affected by it. Organisers open the debate for the public with free admission at the International Centre for Popular Culture in Paris, on Saturday, June 14, from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. The title of this debate highlights the extent of the impact that France's colonial past has had on Algeria, which has been escalating since last summer. The work of the mixed committee on memory was halted, coinciding with Algeria's recall of its ambassador, Mohamed-Antar Daoud, from Paris, following French President Emmanuel Macron's shift in position on the Western Sahara issue. A few days ago, historian Benjamin Stora, who chairs the French Memory Commission, said that the memory issue 'represents a possible way out of the crisis, and is indispensable in any case, and necessary in any case, because we cannot consider the Algerian history to be like all others.' On this occasion, he called for working towards a quick settlement: 'We need strong initiatives, especially regarding the issue of the French colonisation of Algeria in the nineteenth century. But today, in my opinion, considering the possibility of launching initiatives on memory could serve as an alternative to resuming political relations, which is necessary to resolve immigration or visa issues.' Benjamin Stora is presented as an advisor to the French president on memory matters. He has previously blamed the French side for the ongoing tensions, accusing Macron personally of causing the crisis in a previous interview with France 24, where he stated: 'First, it is important to note that French President Emmanuel Macron's statement regarding the Moroccan regime's (alleged) sovereignty over the Sahrawi territories has added fuel to the fire.' Since the outbreak of the crisis, French officials have not stopped demanding the resumption of work on the memory file. However, the Algerian side has shown no response. Rather, it has raised its demands for the return of all the looted Algerian archives in French vaults, as stated by the head of the Algerian memory commission, Mohamed Zeghidi. The possibility of resuming work on this file appeared on the horizon after the visit that led the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, to Algeria on April 6th. However, the recklessness of Bruno Retailleau, the Interior Minister in the government of François Bayrou, by kidnapping an Algerian consular employee in a Parisian street outside diplomatic norms, brought the crisis back to square one. This incident also revealed the existence of a real crisis in the decision-making circles in Paris, and that the French President had lost control of things, even if some tried to talk about a well-crafted scenario for exchanging political roles in relations with the former colony.
El Chorouk
21-05-2025
- El Chorouk
The crisis with Algeria will continue, and memory file may be the key to the solution
The French historian, Benjamin Stora, who heads the joint memory committee alongside historian Mohamed Zeghdidi, expects the tension that characterizes relations between Algeria and France to continue, but he does not see this tension reaching the point of a diplomatic break in its classical sense (closing embassies in both countries), and called for playing the memory file as a card that can alleviate the tension between the two countries. Benjamin Stora, who serves as an advisor to French President Emmanuel Macron on memory affairs, is considered one of the few voices calling for calm, and does not hesitate to criticize hostile stances towards Algeria by some French politicians, such as Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of Interior in François Bayrou's government. In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Wednesday, Benjamin Stora said: 'We need strong initiatives, especially regarding the issue of French colonialism in Algeria in the 19th century. But today, in my opinion, considering the possibility of launching initiatives on memory may be an alternative to resuming political relations,' which is 'necessary to resolve issues of immigration or visas.' The historian calls for continuing this work related to memory in order to achieve calm, and emphasizes the importance of building on previous initiatives, referring to France's recognition of responsibility for the assassination of Algerian politicians and activists by the French army during the Liberation Revolution, such as the French activist for the revolution, Maurice Audin, the revolution's lawyer Ali Boumendjel, and the martyr Larbi Ben M'hidi. These initiatives came in a piecemeal manner without reaching the basic demand of Algerians, which is the recognition of its colonial crimes, which stripped those initiatives of their value. Stora believes that working on the memory file 'constitutes a possible way out of the crisis, and is indispensable in any case, and necessary in any case, because we cannot (…) consider that this Algerian history is like all other histories,' due to the heavy burden of the colonial past from its very beginnings until the Liberation Revolution, which witnessed brutal massacres against Algerians. He added: 'We cannot resolve relations that lasted 132 years with one speech or one initiative. It is a very long period, 132 years. It spans more than six generations,' and these facts have made relations between the two countries more complex, saying: We must remember that the relationship between France and Algeria has always been full of troubles and fluctuations, and a lot of tensions and detentes. Therefore, he does not see a way out of the crisis in the short term, even if France agrees to new initiatives on the memory level, due to the level the current crisis has reached, for which the French side is responsible, as it was the party that initiated the provocation when it decided to support the Moroccan regime's plan in Western Sahara, despite its awareness of the risks of such a decision on bilateral relations. It is known that the work of the mixed committee in charge of the memory file has been suspended since last summer, following the French President's decision to change his country's position on the Sahrawi issue, and this committee was about to resume its activity last April after the visit of the French Foreign Minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, to Algeria, but the action of suspicious parties in Paris to arrest an official at the Algerian consulate in Paris outside of norms, law, and diplomacy, brought the crisis back to its beginnings. Stora says: 'This time, the crisis is absolutely unprecedented,' which may prolong its life for a long time, and he warned that this problem is worsening more and more, because in France, as in Algeria, there are 'people and organizations who have an interest in things not always going well.' Stora did not rule out that Algeria could be a subject of the next presidential campaign in two years, as was the case in 2007. Nicolas Sarkozy 'campaigned heavily on the basis of French Algeria.'
El Chorouk
19-05-2025
- El Chorouk
Algeria Will Respond Strictly To French Excesses Regarding Visas
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Community Abroad, and African Affairs has stated that Algeria is following with great surprise the recent developments regarding the management of French communication on the issue of visas in general, and the exemption of diplomatic passports and service passports from this measure in particular, confirming that it will respond by strictly applying the principle of reciprocity in proportion to the French side's breach of its commitments and pledges. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Monday that the Algerian government has noted that the French communication management on this matter now appears to be 'strange and suspicious behavior consisting of crude leaks to media outlets skillfully selected by the French Ministry of Interior and the French Directorate General of Police.' Through this unusual channel, French decisions are now being announced, in complete disregard of established diplomatic practices and in flagrant violation of the provisions of the 2013 Algerian-French agreement regulating visa exemptions for holders of diplomatic passports and service passports. In fact, to this day, in flagrant violation of the provisions of Article 8 of this agreement, Algeria has not received any official French notification through the only channel used in relations between states, which in this case is the diplomatic channel. The Chargé d'Affaires at the French Embassy in Algeria, who was summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs four times on this matter, confirmed that he had not received any instructions from the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that he has not been able to respond to official Algerian requests for clarification on this matter to this day. The Algerian government officially reminds in this regard that the French side bears full and complete responsibility for the initial violations of the 2013 agreement on visa exemption for holders of diplomatic passports and service passports, and these violations, immediately upon their occurrence, were the subject of an official statement from the Algerian authorities which denounced them and held the French side responsible in this regard. Consequently, the Algerian government categorically rejects these fallacies and considers the French claim that Algeria was the first to breach its obligations under the 2013 agreement to be contrary to the truth. In addition to these necessary clarifications, the Algerian government takes this opportunity to remind that regarding the exemption of holders of diplomatic passports and service passports from visas, Algeria was never the one who requested it. When visas were imposed in 1986 on citizens of both countries, it was France that initiated the proposal to exempt holders of diplomatic passports from this measure, but Algeria at that time clearly and explicitly rejected this proposal. Later, during the 1990s, France renewed this proposal three times and it was always met with the same rejection from the Algerian side. Algeria only accepted this in 2007 when the French authorities returned to raising the same issue, and Algeria finally agreed to conclude a bilateral agreement exempting holders of diplomatic passports from visas. Always at the French initiative, a new agreement was concluded in 2013 that expanded the scope of the exemption to include holders of service passports, thus canceling the limited agreement of 2007. In general, it is clear in reality that the French government is inclined towards freezing or suspending the 2013 agreement without taking responsibility or consequences for that, in complete disregard of the provisions of the applicable agreement. Today, as yesterday, Algeria has no special interest or notable attachment to this agreement, and it clearly notes what resembles an actual suspension of the agreement by France without respecting the necessary legal procedures. It will draw all the consequences from that and take the necessary measures, and will respond by strictly applying the principle of reciprocity in proportion to the French side's breach of its commitments and pledges.
