Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon on Thursday called on other opposition parties to join the DA in a ”coalition for change” in South Africa, ahead of next year’s general election.
”The fact remains that only a strong opposition that poses a political threat can push for new policies, hold the government to account, and create the space in South African politics for the voice of the people to be heard.”
Addressing a fund-raising meeting in Plettenberg Bay, he said the DA was not simply building the party for the party’s sake, but ”so that we can push for change”.
”We have reached the point where we can consider forming a coalition for change, together with like-minded parties such as the Inkatha Freedom Party, with whom we have enjoyed a successful relationship in KwaZulu-Natal,” he said.
Thus, the time had come for every single opposition party to put its cards on the table.
”Are you committed to creating a real alternative to the ANC?
Are you ready to become part of a coalition for change with the DA and the IFP? Or are you merely bluffing, hoping to cash in your chips at the government cashier?”
A coalition for change would have the muscle to push for radical policy changes on the issues that mattered most to ordinary people: jobs, poverty, crime and Aids.
A total of 100 000 people had been hijacked since 1996. More than 200 000 had been murdered since 1994.
One-million people, according to estimates, had already died of Aids, and over seven-million people were out of work.
”That is why the next election is so important. That is why we need a coalition for change,” Leon said.
”Let me stress that a coalition for change would not be a new political party. Our parties must remain independent organisations.
”What we should consider is an agreement between our parties to co-govern wherever possible, to work together on key issues and campaigns, and to refrain from competing against each other in elections.”
There was huge potential for success, said Leon. Simply by mobilising the full support of the DA and the IFP in the next election, a coalition for change could govern at the provincial level in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng and the Western Cape, he said.
At the national level, it could form a bloc that could have greater leverage over policy, and turn back the hegemony of the ANC.
The relationship would not be a dependency, in which one party would need to curry favour with the others. Rather, it would be a partnership in which all of the parties involved would work together toward common goals, on the basis of common interests and common values.
”There will, of course, be differences among opposition parties over policy — that is inevitable.”
But a coalition for change must, at the very least, present a coherent plan for improving peoples’ lives, with clear alternative policies on the issues that mattered most, Leon said. – Sapa