As expected, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in the national elections in South Africa held on May 29 paving the way for the formation of a coalition government as the leading partner after its uninterrupted rule for thirty years since the holding of first elections in 1994 after the abolition of apartheid.
For ANC regime led by President Cyril Ramaphosa, the poll results gave a big shock showing how the voting level of the ANC had declined to only 40 per cent as against 57.4 per cent received by the ANC in 2019 general elections. As per South African constitution, any party getting below the 50 per cent level, will lose the right to form a government of its own and be ready for a coalition with other minority partners. President will be finally elected on that basis. So the continuation of the current president Ramaphosa depends on the agreement reached between the ANC and its partners.
President Cyril Ramaphosa was quite objective and composed after the poll results were out on Sunday. He called for South Africa’s political parties to overcome their differences and find “common ground” to form the first national coalition government in its young democracy.
“Our people have spoken,” Ramaphosa said. “Whether we like it or not, they have spoken. We have heard the voices of our people and we must respect their choices and their wishes. … The people of South Africa expect their leaders to work together to meet their needs. This is a time for all
The ANC said that it was starting its negotiations with all major parties. More than 50 parties took part in the election, and at least eight had significant shares of the vote. At least 26 of them, including the MK Party led by former President Jacob Zuma, have lodged objections and complaints with the electoral body alleging voting irregularities, which it has promised to address.
ANC Secretary-General Fikile Mbalula said it was open to all negotiations, even with the main opposition Democratic Alliance, which has led the chorus of criticism of the ANC for years but is viewed by many analysts as the most stable coalition option for South Africa.
The DA won the second most votes with 21.8%, and the two parties would hold a majority together and be able to govern. DA leader John Steenhuisen said his party was also initiating talks with parties. The ANC won 159 seats in the 400-seat Parliament, down from the 230 it won in the last election. The DA increased slightly to 87 seats..
As per the constitution, the new Parliament will have to sit for its opening session for electing President within fourteen days after announcing the official results. So that way the Parliament will have to meet by June 16 and the ANC has to finalise its negotiations with the other parties to have a coalition government. The ANC is firm that the willing parties will have to agree on the continuation of Ramaphosa and there will be no compromise on the presidential nominee.
Amid many coalition options, the ANC could also join with MK and the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, although they have been cast as partners that would make investors uneasy. Both have pledged to nationalize parts of South Africa’s economy, including its gold and platinum mines, among the world’s biggest producers..At the moment, ANC leadership is not ready to agree to this far left agenda since the economy needs massive investments.
The DA has long said it will not work with the EFF and MK, calling them a “doomsday coalition” for South Africa. Steenhuisen, the party’s leader, repeated that stance Sunday in a speech on national television but said his party was starting talks with others and would approach them “with cool heads and open minds.”
As of now, political observers feel that there is a possibility of ANC-DA coalition which will ensure 61.8 per cent of the votes for a stable government. Jacob Zuma’s party has got 8 per cent but Zuma is disliked by ANC and his condition is Ramaphosa will be displaced. This can not be agreed to by the ANC leadership. ANC can not take risk of aligning with the far left as the group’s policies are too anti-investors and that does not suit the President’s present policy of wooing investors for growth in economy and generation of jobs
The African National Congress (ANC) has been ruling the nation since 1994 when Nelson Mandela became the president as the head of the ANC which led the liberation struggle against the British rulers. The ANC from the beginning was a platform of freedom fighters of different shades of political persuasion. South African Communist Party (SACP) which took a prominent part in the anti-apartheid struggle, has been a part of the ruling ANC all along and its leaders held positions of ministers in the government of ANC. The SACP members, however are in the government as ANC members and they fought elections also on ANC ballot.. Another participant in the triple alliance is the trade union body COSATU.
SACP has been fighting inside the ANC government for the implementation of its programme. Some demands were approved, some were not, but SACP members remained loyal to the ANC regime. However, the relationship took a bitter turn during the presidentship of Jacob Zuma who was charged for corruption. He was later removed and Mr. Ramaphosa took over as the president replacing him. The new president has better ties with the SACP.
Under president Ramaphosa’s leadership, South Africa took Israel to the International Court of Justice for war crimes. The ICJ mentioned of Israeli crimes as genocide and asked the Israeli government to take immediate action to end its war crimes. Though Israel and other western nations, are yet to implement the ICJ directive, South Africa’s stature has gone up among the developing nations. South Africa is a leading member of the BRICS group of which India is also a prominent member.
SACP leadership discussed the possibility of leaving the ANC and functioning independently outside the ANC during Zuma’s presidency but the leadership waited taking into account the looming threat from the opposition Democratic Alliance. Now with Mr. Ramaphosa as president, the SACP, after long debate on the issue opted to remain as a part of the ANC and fought the general elections jointly.
Defying the far left critics of the Party, the SACP leadership said that the time was still not ripe for the second stage and it was politically sensible to remain as a part of the ANC to fight in the general elections jointly to ensure the victory of the ANC once again. The South African communists fought on ANC symbol. It is yet to be know the number of communists elected to Parliament on ANC symbol out of the total seats of 159 received by the ANC. SACP will have a say in the choosing of partners by the ANC leadership. The next few days are crucial in the political life of South Africa, the most politically sensitive country in the continent with62 million population and 29 million registered voters out of whom 77 per cent belong to youth. (IPA Service)
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