Marion Edmunds=20
THE National Party has a strategy to solve this=20 coming week’s fight with the ANC over local=20 government legislation. Talk of the strategy makes=20 Nats smile, but they’re not going to show their=20 hand yet.=20
Parliament meets in a special session next week to=20 debate the Local Government Transition Amendment=20 Bill, a move necessitated by the Constitutional=20 Court ruling which invalidated proclamations by=20 President Nelson Mandela. While the ANC is=20 determined to put all amendments into one omnibus=20 bill, the Nats have said they want to separate=20 amendments into two Bills so that they can support=20 the holding of elections, yet back up Western Cape=20 premier Hernus Kriel’s stand on provincial=20
Though Nat members gleefully refrained from=20 exposing their hand after the NP’s Federal=20 Executive Council meeting this week, sources say=20 the party intends to oppose the controversial Bill=20 in the committee stage to get as much mileage as=20 they can out of the show of opposition — and if=20 they can’t win through or cut a deal, they will=20 support the Bill in Parliament next week, and=20 possibly refer the two controversial clauses on the=20 Western Cape to the Constitutional Court. All this=20 will ensure that they are on the front pages for=20 some weeks to come.=20
Indeed, the Nats have been able to use this, and=20 other conflicts with the ANC, to play the media=20 successfully all week already: headline picture=20 last Saturday of De Klerk standing up to mighty=20 Mandela, on Sunday a half-page look at Kriel at=20 home on his eyrie in the Cape, and then an in-depth=20 12 minute-long probe into the party by SAfm radio=20 midweek. The Nats extended caucus meeting on=20 Tuesday, was overshadowed only by the OJ Simpson=20 verdict on the eight o’clock TV news. =20
De Klerk cannot complain, as he did earlier this=20 year, that the media is ignoring him. A National=20 Party source said flippantly this week that=20 journalists had swallowed the bait — hook, line=20 and sinker. =20
News begets news and the NP media machine has and=20 is still pumping each conflict with the ANC to=20 maximum effect. Gone are the days of relying on the=20 Afrikaans press to carry the party message — the=20 NP has realised that it has to work for coverage,=20 but there is every evidence that they are getting=20 it right. =20
Even the wishful thinkers who predict National=20 Party splits in purple prose are playing the ball=20 into their court — a headline is a powerful thing=20 in these shifting pre-election times of fear and=20
Behind the latter-day Nat is a history of almost 50=20 years of consolidated unity — a rocky ride at=20 times, but the centre always held, even in the=20 change of leaders from PW to FW, even when they=20 gave away power to the ANC.=20
The party has, however, confessed to internal=20 tensions — there has, for example, been an 18- month conflict of interests between “The Premier”,=20 Kriel, and Constitutional Development Minister=20 Roelf Meyer. While Kriel wants to preserve his=20 provincial sovereignty with beak and claw (and keep=20 a beady eye on loftier perches), Meyer is having to=20 keep the GNU peace, olive branch between his lips,=20 in order to fufil his ministerial obligations in=20
The NP’s professed decision to vote against the=20 Local Government Transitional Amendment Bill=20 undermines Meyer’s hard work to launch successfully=20 the local government elections, whatever they say=20 publicly to the contrary. =20
But Meyer and Kriel came from the same nest, and=20 despite their typecast, both are shrewd politicians=20 who keep their cards close to their chest, waiting=20 for the right moment to flush or play a trump.=20
After it appeared last week that Meyer had “lost”=20 to Kriel over the local government proclamations, a=20 special effort was made in advance of this week’s=20 National Party Federal Executive meeting to resolve=20 differences and move the two over the hump. Sources=20 say that since then “everybody has been on their=20 best behaviour”.=20
De Klerk deliberately showcased Meyer at the=20 Tuesday media conference, at his old stamping=20 ground the World Trade Centre, a venue associated=20 with his success.=20
Questions on things constitutional were referred to=20 Meyer at the media briefing “because he knows=20 better”. His image was redeemed by the Leader, no=20 doubt to the satisfaction of his constituency.=20 There is space in the party for both Kriel and=20 Meyer because they have their own internal=20 constituencies and territories — it is not the=20 case of one or the other, not yet anyhow.=20
The Nats might be glowing this week, but it has not=20 been an easy transition over the year, not for them=20 or any of the major political parties. =20
But to consolidate their position further, the=20 party released its draft constitutional policy=20 document this week. =20
It makes particular reference to boosting the=20 powers of minorities and developing cultural=20 councils with powers to safeguard minority=20 communities against a possibly ANC-dominated=20 government. The National Party is able to be all=20 things to all men, and get away with it.=20