The African National Congress Youth League (ANCYL) left no doubt on Friday about its opposition to the notion of ”two centres of power”.
”We remained steadfast that there cannot be two centres of power, because that would be disastrous for our country,” Youth League president Fikile Mbalula said in a statement.
He said if the ANC president was not also the president of the country, ”petty democratic differences” between the two individuals could make the ANC vulnerable to ”forces opposed to our revolution”.
Last week, the ANCYL proposed a compromise formulation on the issue at the ANC policy conference, which was adopted.
Secretary general Kgalema Motlanthe told reporters afterwards the decision boiled down to ”general agreement that the ANC president should preferably be the ANC candidate for the president of the republic”.
But he said there was also a ”strong view” among the 1 500 delegates that this should not be made a principle.
The resolution left the way open for either President Thabo Mbeki or Jacob Zuma to stand for the party presidency at the end of the year.
The ANCYL backs Zuma.
The proposal was seconded by the ANC in the Eastern Cape, which wants Mbeki back again, and ”thirded” by KwaZulu-Natal, which wants a two-term party presidency, clearing the way for Zuma.
The party’s presidency comes up for review at the ANC national conference in Limpopo in December.
Motlanthe pointed out that all policy conference recommendations were subject to further discussion. – Sapa