SOUTH AFRICA 16 December 2008 ANC rebels launch new party to contest 2009 election

Dissidents from South Africa's ruling party, the African National Congress, launch a new party in Bloemfontein in December with the intention of challenging the ANC in the country's general election in 2009. The party, the Congress of the People, is made up of ANC members who are upset by the election in Dec 2007 of Jacob Zuma to replace former president Thabo Mbeki as new ANC president. The rebels are also upset by the possibility the ANC could support a political deal to set aside fraud and corruption charges against Zuma.

Many delegates to the new movement's convention on Nov 1 listed concerns about the manner in which the ANC ousted Mbeki as South Africa's president -- he was replaced by President Kgalema Motlanthe, who is a placeholder for Zuma in the 2009 election -- as a motive for joining the dissident group. The court threw out charges against Zuma on a technicality in September, but holes in the case make appeals likely. Zuma could still face trial if state prosecutors are successful in appealing the dismissal of the charges.

The ANC won nearly 70 per cent of the vote in 2004, making the new party's chances of victory slim. The largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, won 12 per cent. There is some potential threat to the hold on power of the ANC, which has dominated South African politics since the first free elections in 1994, in a potential coalition between the splinter party and opposition parties, particularly the Democratic Alliance. Nov/08

RELATED READING:

A new party (The Economist 6 Nov 2008)
http://www.economist.com/world/mideast-africa/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12573347