JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has signed a law allowing independent candidates to run in national elections without having to be affiliated to a political party, his office announced Monday.
The new law comes as opinion
polls suggest that the African National Congress (ANC), which has been in power
for nearly three decades, will dip below 50 percent in next year's nationwide
vote.
Under the current system,
voters in legislative elections cast ballots for political parties, and the 400
seats in the National Assembly are allocated to each party under a system of
proportional representation.
Each party then distributes
its share of seats among selected party members - a system that critics say
promotes loyalty and patronage over commitment to a constituency.
The new law gives a space for
independent candidates along regional lines, stipulating that in regions where
individuals are contesting elections, ballot papers must include their names
alongside political parties.
The goal behind the
legislation is to reverse a worrying tendency towards apathy as voters shun the
long-ruling ANC and the opposition.
The new law "now provides
for the inclusion and nomination of independent candidates as contesters to
elections," Ramaphosa's office said in a statement.
The changes are "a
significant milestone in the evolution of our democracy by expanding electoral
participation and widening the pool of leadership choice for the National
Assembly and provincial legislatures," Ramaphosa said.
In power since the end of
apartheid in 1994, the ANC won the last legislative elections in May 2019 with
57.5 percent of the ballots cast - its lowest-ever share of votes in national
elections.
The new law comes as opinion
polls suggest that the African National Congress (ANC) will dip below 50
percent in next year's nationwide vote.
Under the constitution, the
parliament meets after national elections to choose the president. Usually, a
candidate from the party with majority lawmakers wins.
The ANC faces growing
discontent fueled by a sickly economy, entrenched unemployment, worsening
inequality and an electricity crisis that is leaving leaves swathes of the
country without power for hours at a time.
The largest opposition party, the Democratic Alliance, is working towards
building a coalition aimed at ousting the ANC in the 2024 elections.
No comments:
Post a Comment