Hajra Omarjee
19 November 2008
Johannesburg — AN APPARENT attempt by the African National Congress (ANC) to call an early election to catch its opponents unprepared seems to have backfired.
Although only the president can call an election, it is understood the ANC's national working committee (NWC) endorsed March 25 as the date at a meeting on Monday.
But indications are the party's election timetable will be postponed when the national executive committee (NEC) meets this weekend, as it is not ready to go to the polls.
ANC dissidents leaked the March 25 date to the media yesterday, saying the ANC was undermining "democracy".
Part of the reason for an early election was to ensure that no challenger to ANC president Jacob Zuma had an opportunity to oust him from first place on the party's candidate list.
Two ANC provincial leaders told Business Day late yesterday afternoon that they had advised party secretary-general Gwede Mantashe against the move.
The NWC is not a decision-making body.
Its recommendations are forwarded to the NEC to discuss and ratify .
Any election date before April 14 2009 would be considered an early election.
"We have told Gwede we will not be ready (for an early election). We have been given an undertaking that there will not be a rush for the finish line," an ANC provincial leader said last night.
The ANC denied yesterday that a decision on an election date had been made.
"The ANC is engaged in internal discussions on possible dates for the election should the views of political parties be sought on the matter. The ANC has not taken a decision on which date or dates it would suggest," it said in a statement.
The party has given its structures three weeks to finalise their preferred candidates for next year's national and provincial ballot before it convenes a list conference. It is understood the ANC's provincial leaders have been told the party's national list conference, scheduled for December 13 and 14, will be postponed to January.
Steven Friedman, director of the Centre for the Study of Democracy at the University of Johannesburg, said the ANC was panicking after dissidents had formed a new party. "I do not have polls to back me up but what I am hearing is that people at Luthuli House are terrified of COPE (the Congress of the People). The question is what is the state of the ANC's election machinery?" Friedman asked.
Addressing foreign media in Johannesburg yesterday, COPE leader Mbhazima Shilowa said his party was aware of an ANC plan to change the election date to March next year.
"They think our structures will not be in place by then," he said.
Shilowa contended that COPE's structures were better prepared for elections than those of the ANC.
"All we say is bring it on."
The Democratic Alliance (DA) also said an early election would play into its hands.
"We have been working on our election (campaign) from April this year. This news is not a crisis at all. It's two weeks earlier as far as we are concerned. We will be ready to meet the ANC at the polls," DA leader Helen Zille said.
United Democratic Movement leader Bantu Holomisa said that the ANC's attempt to call an early election demonstrated the party's tendency to confuse matters of party and state.
With Sibongakonke Shoba
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