Tensions rise as Morocco and Algeria compete for AU leadership

The 37th ordinary session of the African Union (AU) Heads of State summit will be held in Addis Ababa on February 17-18. During the summit, a new AU president will be elected for a one-year term, reserved for the North Africa region.

A few weeks before this major continental meeting, the eastern neighbor is campaigning to win the title. The President of the House of Representatives in Algeria, moreover, discussed this subject on Monday, January 29 in Algiers, with his counterpart from Madagascar.

The designation of the successor of the President of the Union of the Comoros, Azali Assoumani, should not escape the tension between Morocco and Algeria. She had, as a reminder, blocked the appointment of the first vice-president of the pan-African organization in 2023.

In the coming weeks, the other members of the North African region (Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Mauritania and Polisario) will have to navigate the relationship between Morocco and Algeria. In the absence of consensus, they will have to propose a compromise candidate. If this objective is not achieved, the position should be allocated to another African region.

A possible victory for Algeria would allow President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to sit, for three years, on the African troika mechanism on Western Sahara, launched in 2018 during the AU summit in Nouakchott.