The Democratic Alliance (DA) plans to co-ordinate political activities between Parliament and the Eastern Cape provincial legislature.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) plans to co-ordinate political activities between Parliament and the Eastern Cape provincial legislature.
Parliament leader and Eastern Cape provincial chair Athol Trollip said this was one of the issues which were discussed at a joint caucus meeting between the party’s Eastern Cape-based parliamentarians and members of the provincial legislature on Friday. He added that the caucus set in motion the party’s quarterly council meeting which saw representatives from all the regions around the province gathering at the Frontier Country Hotel.
Trollip said he presented the caucus with a progress report on the process of "political realignment" of opposition parties in Parliament, especially about meetings between the ANC and Congress of the People (Cope). "In order for us to proceed [with the realignment]Cope needs to have an elective conference so that their leadership can get the mandate from its membership," he added.
He also said that parties who are opposing the ruling party in Parliament have developed a document on core values and on principles because "we can’t unite the opposition based only on our hatred for the ANC". He further said that the party has already identified municipalities it can win over in the 2011 local government elections.
He attributed the rising number of DA voters in Makana to DA councillors who bring about "stability, expertise and sanity to the municipality". He added that due to a lack of political stability and leadership in the municipality, the DA has shown "systematic growth" since 1994.
While he acknowledged the perception that his party is "white male party", he also said that demographics show that the party’s leaders in parliament and the provincial legislature are the most racially diverse of all the parties.
He argued that there is a transition in voter behaviour as South Africans are now moving away from blind loyalty towards one organisation determine their votes. He said the emrging trend is that voters now are voting along "issue-lines", meaning that they are likely to vote for a party whose policies address their concerns about a specific issue.
He said the meeting was held in preparation for the provincial conference in November which is meant to elect new leadership for the province.
