CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South African President Cyril Ramaphosa He was re-elected to a second term by lawmakers on Friday after his party struck a dramatic coalition deal with a former political rival just hours before the vote.
President Ramaphosa said, African National CongressPresident Ramaphosa won a landslide victory in parliament against fellow nominee Julius Malema of the far-left Economic Freedom Fighters, with Ramaphosa receiving 283 votes to Malema’s 44 in the 400-seat lower house.
Ramaphosa, 71, secured a second term in office with the support of lawmakers from the country’s second-largest party, the Democratic Alliance, and several smaller parties who backed him in a vote that steered him to victory after the ANC lost its long-held majority and was reduced to 159 seats in landmark elections two weeks ago.
Eventually, during a lengthy break in parliament, the ANC signed a last-minute agreement with the DA, effectively ensuring that Ramaphosa would remain leader of Africa’s most industrialized economy. The two parties will now govern South Africa together in the first national coalition government in which no party has a majority in parliament.
This transaction is Government of National Unityrallying the ANC The DA, a white-led political party, The party has long been the main opposition and the ANC’s fiercest critic. At least two other smaller parties also joined the agreement.
More than 50 countries will hold elections in 2024
Ramaphose called for a deal; South Africa enters uncharted territory He announced “a new birth, a new era for our country” and said the time had come for political parties to “set aside their differences and work together.”
“This is what we need to do and this is what I am committed to accomplishing as president,” he said.
Nelson Mandela’s famous political party, the ANC, has ruled South Africa with a majority since the late 1960s. White minority apartheid system 1994.
But I lost. 30 years of majority The national elections held on May 29 were a turning point for the country. South African dissatisfaction About poverty, inequality and high unemployment.
But analysts warn that things could get complicated given the stark ideological differences between the former liberation movement ANC and the centrist, pro-business DA, which won 21% of the vote in the national elections, second only to the ANC’s 40%.
For one thing, the DA is a party to the ANC government. Israel accused of genocide in Gaza This is a highly sensitive case before the United Nations’ highest court.
DA leader John Steenhausen was the first to confirm the agreement.
“From today, the DA will collectively govern South Africa in a spirit of unity and cooperation,” he said as he walked out of parliament on Friday in a live-televised address after the agreement was signed and DA lawmakers said they would vote for Ramaphosa in the presidential election.
The parliament began at 10am in an unusual location: a conference centre near Cape Town’s waterfront. The Houses of Parliament burned down in a fire In 2022, the House spent hours swearing in hundreds of new members and electing a speaker and deputy speaker.
Voting for the presidential election began at midnight and the results were not announced until just after 10pm. President Ramaphosa finished his acceptance speech as the clock struck midnight and into Saturday.
Former president Jacob Zuma’s MK party boycotted parliament but this did not affect the vote as only a third of parliament is needed for a quorum.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the party was open to discussions with anyone else who wanted to join a unity government. Eighteen parties are represented in parliament and Mbalula said a multi-party agreement “puts the country first across political and ideological divides”.
Several political parties, including Malema’s EFF, refused to take part.
The other two parties in the coalition agreement were Inkatha Freedom Party The Patriotic League has attracted attention because its leader, Gayton MacKenzie, was serving a prison sentence for bank robbery.
McKenzie said he had been given a second chance at life and South Africa now had the chance to solve its serious socio-economic problems.
The ANC was facing a deadline. conclude a coalition agreement Parliament was required to choose a president within 14 days of the results being announced on June 2. The ANC had been trying for two weeks to reach a coalition deal, but The final negotiations continued through the night. Party officials said this on Thursday and Friday.
South Africa That level of political uncertainty Since the ANC came to power in 1994 The first all-race elections are over Nearly half a century of racial discrimination. Since then, all of South Africa’s leaders have been from the ANC. It starts with Mandela.
The new unity government is also reminiscent of the way Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, invited political opponents into a unity government as part of a reconciliation effort when the ANC held a majority in 1994. As a young politician, Ramaphosa played a key role in those negotiations.
This time the ANC was forced to act.
“The ANC has been very generous in admitting defeat and saying, ‘let’s have a conversation,'” said McKenzie, the PA leader.
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Magome reported from Johannesburg.
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