DA leader John Steenhuisen has had the last laugh after the multiparty convention seating in Kempton Park agreed that the official opposition will take the majority of the spoils should the Multiparty Charter for SA manage to unseat the ANC.
This victory came after Steenhuisen suffered a defeat on day one of the gathering, where seven political formations agreed to hunt as a pack going into the all-important national and provincial elections in 2024.
On day one, Steenhuisen had a bloodied nose after ActionSA managed to force through a resolution that the Charter must be open to other parties except the EFF and ANC, which opened the window for Patriotic Alliance (PA).
The DA and PA deeply align on the immigration policy to deport illegal foreigners.
According to the independent chairperson of the convention, professor William Gumede, the parties agree that should they win, the party with the biggest votes within the Charter will take the position of leader of government business (deputy president).
This benefits the DA, which is far ahead of other partners in the Charter with electoral support.
Moreover, the parties were also in agreement that cabinet positions should be shared proportionally according to votes received by each party.
Gumede said parties had extensively discussed how they would share the spoils on positions to every party’s satisfaction to avoid that being the point of disintegration, as has become the norm at local government.
“The parties have agreed that power will be shared proportionally based on the election results received by each party,” said Gumede.
“Further, the parties have agreed that a merit-based approach will be employed to decide positions in government.
“Also, it was agreed that the same party cannot lead both the executive and legislative arms of government.
“It was also agreed that the cabinet must reflect the diversity of the South African people, while lifestyle audits of all members of the executive will be enforced.
“The leader of the largest party will be the leader of government business.”
The partners of the Charter also reached a consensus that they would trim the number of positions in the cabinet.
As to who becomes president, which under the Charter appears to be less powerful than the deputy president, Gumede said parties will decide that in due course.
“We are on track to deliver the first pre-election coalition in South Africa’s modern history,” said Gumede.
The convention will wrap up on Thursday with a declaration that will reveal the way forward. #Charter24 has been resolved to be the official social media identity of the coalition.
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