Politics

5 parties now part of South Africa’s unity government— ANC

Published

4 months ago

June 17, 2024

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC), has announced that negotiations with other parties are still underway as the party forms a government with five opposition parties.

The ANC was obliged to form coalitions with other political parties after last month’s election because it was unable to secure a parliamentary majority for the first time since the 1994 election that brought an end to apartheid.

The Democratic Alliance, led by white people and supportive of business, supported ANC leader Cyril Ramaphosa in his reelection as president of South Africa’s parliament on Friday. Two smaller parties, the right-wing Patriotic Alliance and the socially conservative Inkatha Freedom Party, also supported the party.

The ANC said on Monday that GOOD, a smaller party, has also committed to join the unity government agreement. According to an ANC statement, this group holds 273 seats in the National Assembly or 68% of the total.

South Africa’s 400 seats make up its parliament. The IFP has 17 seats, the PA has 9 seats, the DA is the second-largest party with 87 seats, the ANC has 159 seats, and GOOD has one seat. According to the ANC, the unity government would guarantee that all involved parties had representation in government and would reach decisions by consensus.

The ANC stated that the unity government will prioritize land reform, infrastructure development, job creation, fixed capital investment promotion, and quick, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth.

“The president will exercise the prerogative to appoint the cabinet, in consultation with leaders of GNU (government of national unity) parties, adhering to existing protocols on government decision-making and budgeting,” the ANC said, adding it was still in discussions with more parties to join the government.

With 39 seats, the Marxist Economic Freedom Fighters party has declared that it will not serve in a government with the Democratic Alliance (DA) or the Freedom Front Plus, two organizations that receive support from the white minority.

The former president Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto we Sizwe party is likewise not a member of the unity government. With 58 seats in the National Assembly, it has declared that it will join the EFF and the center-left United Democratic Movement in the “Progressive Caucus,” a group of minor opposition parties in parliament.

The unity government will face official resistance from this alliance.

“With populist parties choosing to reject the GNU, and the ANC’s bigger partners in the governing coalition centre-leaning and favouring more liberal economic policies, we think the GNU opens the possibility for more growth-friendly structural reforms and prudent macroeconomic policy choices,” HSBC economist David Faulkner said in a note.

“But the GNU could also face ideological divisions and exacerbate fractures within the ANC, factors that could make establishing a stable policy framework difficult.”

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Politics

US requests probe into murders of two Mozambique opposition figures

Published

16 hours ago

October 22, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The United States administration denounced the weekend deaths of two Mozambique opposition members, demanding a prompt and comprehensive inquiry ahead of protests against a disputed election outcome.

According to the US State Department website, the US is the largest bilateral donor to Mozambique, providing approximately $560 million annually in aid.

Washington, along with the EU and Portugal, condemned and demanded an investigation into the murders of opposition lawyer Elvino Dias and party official Paulo Guambe, who were shot in their car on Saturday.

“The United States condemns the killings of lawyer Elvino Dias and Podemos parliamentary candidate Paulo Guambe in Mozambique,” the U.S. State Department said in a statement.

“We join the calls made by all four of Mozambique’s national political parties in urging a swift and thorough investigation.”
In the capital Maputo, demonstrators gathering near the location where the two opposition party leaders were shot dead on Saturday following a contentious election were met with gunshots and tear gas by Mozambique police on Monday.

Early results from Mozambique’s general election on October 9 indicate that the ruling Frelimo party is projected to win again. The final results are anticipated this week. Candidates in opposition claim the poll was manipulated.

Since 1975, Frelimo has governed the southern African nation, and opposition leaders, civic society, and election monitors have accused him of electoral fraud. It refutes the accusations.

The State Department called on Mozambique’s political leaders, residents, stakeholders, and state institutions to settle electoral disputes legally and peacefully while avoiding inflammatory rhetoric and violence.

Politics

Again, Tunisian MPs want exclusive power of central bank over interest rates abolished

Published

3 days ago

October 20, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

A measure by MPs on Friday indicated that the Tunisian central bank will no longer be the only entity able to alter interest rates or the country’s foreign exchange policy; rather, it will be permitted to finance the government.

President Kais Saied, who has maintained that the central bank shouldn’t be a state within a state, has continuously criticised the action, which is the most recent that will destroy the bank’s independence.

The current dire state of public finances prompts the possible significant amendment to the central bank statute. The opposition has referred to Saied’s 2021 takeover of practically all power as a coup, and since then, the nation has been unable to obtain Western support. Saied ruled by decree.

If the bank law was not altered, 27 legislators issued a dire warning, stating that Tunisia would unavoidably go bankrupt.

They claimed that the state has suffered enormous losses, estimated at $36.6 billion, due to the present law passed in 2016 and prohibits the central bank from making direct bond purchases or loans to the public treasury.

Additionally, the measure suggests that the president must give his or her consent before the bank can make agreements with international supervisory bodies.

Saied said the central bank should lend directly to the state treasury rather than through expensive bank loans, rejecting the central bank’s independence last year.

To close a budget deficit, the administration requested in January that the central bank give the Treasury $2.25 billion in direct funding.

Marouan Abassi, the former governor of the central bank, has cautioned that purchasing Treasury bonds carries risks, such as increasing inflation and depreciating the value of the Tunisian pound. Saied replaced Abassi with Zouhair Nouri earlier this year.

The central bank has had total authority over reserves, gold, and monetary policy since 2016. However, the proposed statute demonstrated that the central bank might modify exchange rates, gold-related operations, and interest rates after consulting with the government.

The bill permits the central bank to purchase government bonds from banks and lend directly to the government up to 3% of GDP for bonds that have maturities longer than five years.

According to financial sources, the action will probably open the door for a fresh government request that the central bank grant the government loans and direct facilities totalling up to $2.6 billion.