Algerian manoeuvres to derail Moroccan appointment to AU fail

Last updated Apr 19, 2023

After Moroccan diplomat Amina Selmane presented her credentials as the permanent representative of the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU) to the AU, the Algerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs launched a stinging attack on Mahamat Faki, the chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, on Sunday.

Algeria expressed its “deep amazement” at Faki’s “casual” and “reckless” choice to accept credentials from a Moroccan diplomat who was impersonating the “Permanent Representative” of the AMU to the AU, according to Algeria.

However, a news release from the AMU’s general secretariat stated that the Moroccan diplomat had in fact been chosen by the union for this position.

Algeria accused Faki of agreeing to a “gross protocolary staging” that gave way to an operation of “unhealthy manipulation, designed and implemented for purposes that in no way serve the interests of the UMA and the UA”, further bringing him into disrepute.

Selmane’s appointment, according to Algeria, was made outside the parameters specified by the Treaty establishing the UMA of February 1989. Algeria further asserted that it was never contacted about the decision.

The Treaty calls for a unanimous vote of the member states at the level of the AMU’s Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which is the sole body qualified to make decisions regarding both this appointment and the fostering of cooperative relationships with other nations.

The response from Algeria was perceived as a last-ditch attempt to thwart Selmane’s appointment since Taeb Baccouche, the AMU SG, was the target of Algeria’s political campaign with the president of the AMU Commission and other Union member states to disparage him in the course of his official duties. Algeria’s strategy, however, met with no political backing, thus it turned to direct confrontation with Faki.