The African National Congress (ANC) said on Friday it hoped to reach consensus this week on how to elect its next leader, a decision that could rule out national President Thabo Mbeki.
ANC secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe told a news conference delegates were debating a number of non-binding proposals on how to resolve the leadership question that arose after Mbeki sacked his popular deputy president Jacob Zuma, once the frontrunner to succeed him.
Mbeki, who has become an object of scorn for the country’s powerful trade unions and the South African Communist Party, has not ruled out running for a third term as ANC chief, although the Constitution prevents him from continuing to lead South Africa after 2009.
”I am certain that a consensus will be met [at the conference’s general session],” said Motlanthe when asked if delegates at an ANC conference outside Johannesburg were discussing the leadership battle.
About 1 500 delegates could decide whether to change the party’s rules to enforce a tradition dating back to 1994, whereby the party leader becomes its presidential candidate.
The ANC is due to elect a new leader at the end of the year.
It could also decide to split the two positions, which could allow Mbeki to stay on as party head, giving him sway over who could succeed him as the country’s leader.
The ANC would need to change its constitution if it wished to bar Mbeki from standing again as party leader. — Reuters