Chris Louw
THE National Party is struggling to establish itself in the opposition role it seeks, judging by this week’s performance in parliament.
Party leader and Deputy President FW de Klerk came back from his overseas holiday this week tanned, relaxed and — according to his lieutenants — “fighting-fit”. He was also determined to establish a new definition of “opposition politics”, accusing the media of not understanding the fundamental changes in politics and still evaluating events in terms of the now defunct Westminster system.
He had been talking to politicians in European countries with coalition governments to find out how the system worked, De Klerk told a press conference in Cape Town on Monday.
The main theme now was decisions should not be taken “with a raising of hands”, but rather through negotiation and persuasion.
Despite his statesmanlike approach, De Klerk was obviously stung by press speculation that he was “tired of politics”. This, he said, “had me on the floor”.
He denied his party ever contemplated withdrawing from the Government of National Unity. In private conversations, however, party officials admitted the role the NP should be playing in the GNU had been the topic of “healthy debate” among MPs, many of whom felt the party was losing its identity and was being held responsible for ANC decisions.
De Klerk gave an indication of what direction his party would follow in future. The ANC, he said, did not rule South Africa. “The constitution says there must be co- government. The NP is not prepared to follow in the slipstream of the ANC.”
He promised the NP’s opposition role in parliament would become more clear. The ANC would be criticised — “in the interest of the country” — when its members deviated from agreed policy. To show what he meant, De Klerk accused “some ANC-appointed cabinet members” of not abiding to the stipulations of the interim constitution.
But it is clear that Nat MPs were still not sure where to pitch their criticism. Marthinus van Schalkwyk drew sharp reaction from ANC secretary general Cyril Ramaphosa for accusing ANC ministers of making a “spectacle” of themselves. Van Schalkwyk named Defence Minister Joe Modise and Justice Minister Dullah Omar as two cabinet members who “act as if they were responsible for foreign affairs”. MPs Piet Coetzer and Andre Fourie joined the choir.
It was again left to De Klerk to show by example what he meant when saying that differences should be based on “sound reasoning rather than negative, destructive debates”.
Taking the floor on Wednesday, De Klerk emanated sweet reason and calculated threat. If the ANC wanted to make use of the talents of his four million supporters, he said, “they must stop cursing us”.
The NP was willing to co-operate with all other parties in the GNU, but refused to become the captive of any party.
De Klerk was, however, quick to add that the “coalition government was working well with the emerging policies which could not be attributed to one single party”.
The Budget was, like many of the GNU’s other decisions, a product of compromise and common sense — a coalition approach.
The coalition government, he said, had to reach fairly detailed framework agreements on all important policy questions. Conventions should be established permitting coalition members to criticise government policy and their colleagues within the government — particularly as elections approached.
All parties in the National Assembly had entered a pact, the essence of which is “the people and parties of South Africa must close ranks to achieve important national goals”.
ANC MPs listened with bemused interest while De Klerk was talking, trying to figure out what they could expect from the “20 percent party”, as Jannie Momberg termed the NP.
The real show, however, will come on August 18, when President Nelson Mandela takes the floor on his 100th day in office.