JOHANNESBURG, South Africa
A South African court on Tuesday dismissed the ruling party’s case demanding a rival opposition party be deregistered and banned from participating in the upcoming election.
The Electoral Court said the
ruling African National Congress party’s objection to how the Independent
Electoral Commission handled the uMkhonto weSizwe Party’s registration had no
merit, adding it should have addressed the Electoral Commission before filing a
court case.
Former South African President
Jacob Zuma, who headed the country from 2009 to 2018 when he was removed amid
wide-ranging allegations of corruption, parted
ways with the ANC in December and is now leading the uMkhonto weSizwe
Party, or MK Party.
His popularity — especially in
his home province of KwaZulu-Natal, expected to be a key battleground in this
year’s elections — has helped MK Party emerge as a potentially significant
contender in the upcoming polls.
The party is named after the
former military wing of the ANC, which was disbanded at the end of white
minority rule and racial segregation policies of the regime known as apartheid.
On Wednesday, the ANC will launch another court bid against Zuma’s party,
challenging its right to use the name and trademark of the now-defunct
organization.
South Africa’s 29
May elections are expected to be highly contested with the ANC, once
led by anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela, under pressure to remain in power
following declining support in successive elections as the country faces
stagnant economic growth, high levels of poverty among its Black majority, and
an unemployment rate of over 32%
According to recent polls, the
ANC may dip below 50% of the national vote for the first since it came into
power in 1994 when Mandela became the country’s first democratically-elected
leader.
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