{"id":110471,"date":"2025-02-15T16:03:34","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:03:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/index.php\/2025\/02\/15\/raila-loses-auc-seat-to-djibouti-foreign-minister-after-quiting-in-6th-round\/"},"modified":"2025-02-15T16:03:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T16:03:34","slug":"raila-loses-auc-seat-to-djibouti-foreign-minister-after-quiting-in-6th-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/raila-loses-auc-seat-to-djibouti-foreign-minister-after-quiting-in-6th-round\/","title":{"rendered":"Raila loses AUC seat to Djibouti Foreign Minister after quiting in 6th round"},"content":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 15 \u2014 Djibouti\u2019s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has been elected as the new African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson after a fiercely contested race that saw him secure the two-thirds threshold with 33 votes in the seventh round of voting.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The race began with Kenya\u2019s Raila Odinga leading the first round with 20 votes, followed closely by Djibouti\u2019s Youssouf, who secured 18 votes. <\/p>\n

Madagascar\u2019s Richard Randriamandrato received 10 votes, while one country abstained, leaving no outright winner.<\/p>\n

In the second round, Odinga increased his tally to 22 votes, while Youssouf gained momentum, securing 19 votes and surpassing Randriamandrato, who dropped to 7 votes.<\/p>\n

By the third round, Youssouf took the lead with 23 votes, while Odinga remained at 20, and Randriamandrato\u2019s support dwindled to 5 votes. One voter abstained.<\/p>\n

The fourth round saw Youssouf\u2019s support grow to 25 votes, while Odinga trailed at 21. Two countries abstained, and one vote was spoiled.<\/p>\n

In the fifth round, Youssouf gained one more vote, reaching 26, while Odinga remained at 21.<\/p>\n

By the sixth round, Youssouf still had 26 votes, while Odinga increased his tally to 22, with one abstention. However, Odinga dropped out, leaving Youssouf as the sole contender.<\/p>\n

Youssouf then proceeded to the seventh round, where he secured the two-thirds majority with 33 votes, officially becoming the new AUC chairperson.<\/p>\n

2017 setback<\/h2>\n

Youssouf\u2019s victory marks Kenya\u2019s second unsuccessful attempt to secure the AUC chairmanship, following a similar defeat in 2017 when Moussa Faki of Chad defeated Kenya\u2019s candidate, Amina Mohamed. <\/p>\n

In that race, Mohamed advanced through the first three rounds before losing to Faki in the final contest. <\/p>\n

Faki won with 38 votes after multiple rounds, surpassing the two-thirds threshold, while the Southern African Development Community (SADC) bloc abstained.<\/p>\n

Despite intensive lobbying by Nairobi, Kenya\u2019s bid failed to secure unanimous backing from East African nations.<\/p>\n

President William Ruto led an aggressive campaign, traveling across Africa to rally support for Odinga. <\/p>\n

Odinga\u2019s team hadclaimed to have secured endorsements from at least 28 nations, but estimates based on Ruto\u2019s diplomatic engagements suggested backing from around 19 countries.<\/p>\n

The election outcome highlights the complex geopolitical dynamics within the AU, where regional politics and shifting alliances often determine the final result.<\/p>\n

In the 2017 election, Mohamed advanced past the first three rounds, reaching the final contest against Faki. <\/p>\n

However, she lost by three votes (28-25) in the decisive round, with one abstention.<\/p>\n

In the subsequent seventh vote, Faki secured 38 votes, surpassing the required two-thirds majority, while the SADC bloc abstained.<\/p>\n

President William Ruto had crisscrossed the continent to rally support for Kenya\u2019s bid and had dispatched Odinga to personally meet African leaders.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 15 \u2014 Djibouti\u2019s Mahmoud Ali Youssouf has been elected as the new African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson after a fiercely contested race that saw him secure the two-thirds threshold with 33 votes in the seventh round of voting. The race began with Kenya\u2019s Raila Odinga leading the first round with 20 votes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-110471","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110471","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=110471"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/110471\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=110471"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=110471"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chezaspin.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=110471"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}