Zungu to Preside Over IPU Assembly as Ackson’s Successor Awaits Election

Tanzania’s Speaker of the National Assembly, Mussa Azzan Zungu, has been elected president of the 153rd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), following a nomination by the Speaker of the UK House of Commons, Sir Lindsay Hoyle.

Hoyle proposed Zungu during a session in Arusha after IPU President Dr Tulia Ackson invited delegates to elect a president for the assembly. Representatives from the United Arab Emirates and Uganda supported the nomination, which was then endorsed unanimously.

“I am pleased and honoured to nominate the Speaker of Tanzania to be elected President of the 153rd Assembly,” Hoyle said, describing the move as a reflection of the friendship between the two countries.

Zungu thanked delegates for their confidence and said Tanzania was proud to welcome them to Arusha.

“I accept this responsibility wholeheartedly,” he said. “Tanzania is proud to welcome you to Arusha, and we will continue working together throughout this 153rd IPU Assembly.”

Zungu’s election to lead the assembly does not make him president of the IPU. Ackson remains the organisation’s president, a position she has held since her election in October 2023. Her three-year term is due to end this month, and she will be succeeded after the IPU elects its next president.

The IPU Governing Council is scheduled to elect Ackson’s successor on October 9 in Arusha. Three candidates are in the running: Sahiba Gafarova, Speaker of Azerbaijan’s National Assembly; Milton Dick, Speaker of Australia’s House of Representatives; and Chilean Senator Rojo Edwards Silva.

The vote will be conducted by secret ballot. A candidate must win an absolute majority of votes cast; if no one reaches that threshold in the first round, another ballot will be held under the Council’s rules. The winner will serve a three-year term as the IPU’s political head.