/ 23 November 2004

Leon, De Lille sling mud

The Independent Democrats (ID) on Monday accused Democratic Alliance leader Tony Leon of lying, saying his attack on the ID was made up of lies and that the DA’s ”so-called scorecard reads like a right-wing intelligence report”.

Leon said earlier on Monday that the ID had ”few principles and limited prospects” and it was spending its meagre resources opposing the opposition.

He said its leader, Patricia de Lille, had consistently been ”sucking up” to the African National Congress in Parliament and that ID provincial leaders cowered anonymously in the shadow of De Lille.

Leon had been replying to what he said was De Lille’s ”trashing” of the DA at her party’s inaugural KwaZulu-Natal congress at the weekend.

The ID responded on Monday: ”In order to say something slanderous about the ID, Leon would even resort to lies. He lied when he said we voted for the health budget — proof is in the parliamentary records.

”He lied when he said the ID did not participate in by-elections. In the past three months the ID has participated in six by-elections.”

This included Springbok in the Northern Cape, Knysna in the southern Cape, and Ceres where the DA did not participate.

”Tony Leon’s so-called scorecard about the ID reads like a right-wing intelligence report,” the ID said. – Sapa