South African lawmakers are set to elect the country's president on Friday after being sworn in at Parliament's first meeting.
JOHANNESBURG — South African lawmakers are set to be sworn in at the first meeting of parliament and elect the country's president on Friday, an election that will reveal what kind of coalition the ruling African National Congress will form after losing its majority for the first time since 1994.
Lawmakers will also elect a new speaker and deputy speaker of parliament, with the selection determined by negotiations that have been taking place between the ANC and opposition parties since the country's election results were announced about two weeks ago.
Parties are under pressure to complete negotiations by Thursday to meet a constitutional requirement that lawmakers be sworn in and a president chosen within 14 days of the announcement of election results.
The African National Congress won 40 percent of the national vote in the country's hotly contested general election, followed by the Democratic Alliance (DA) with just over 21 percent and the newly formed Umkhonto we'Sizwe party with around 15 percent of the vote in its first general election.
The ANC chose to form a national unity government including most of the parties that stood in the election, rather than a simple coalition with a few other parties.
But early negotiations have revealed deep divisions among South Africa's political parties, with some already rejecting the idea of a unity government while others have agreed to join it.
The ANC's national executive committee, the party's highest inter-conference decision-making body, is meeting in Cape Town on Thursday to finalise the terms of the agreement with other parties, which is due to be announced later.
On Wednesday, the Inkatha Freedom Party, the fifth-largest party with 3.85% of the vote, confirmed its decision to join an ANC-led unity government.
In KwaZulu-Natal province, where MK won the most votes, it also announced it had begun negotiations to form a coalition government with the ANC and DA.
“We will join the national unity government for the sake of our country and our people who want to continue living under a stable government that tackles challenges,” said IFP president Berenkosini Hlabisa.
Despite only being formed six months ago, the MK party put in an impressive performance and was perhaps the biggest winner in the elections, but it refused to join a unity government and tried to block the convening of parliament.
The Constitutional Court on Thursday rejected the party's plea to stop the Chief Justice from convening the first session and allowed the session to continue.
The party continues to contest the election results, alleging widespread voter fraud, and has said its 58 elected members will boycott the conference.
The South African constitution stipulates that only one-third of the 400 members of parliament need to be present to constitute a quorum for voting to select the president to proceed.
South Africa's Independent Electoral Commission and independent observers declared the election free and fair.
As the deadline to reach an agreement approaches on Thursday, the rift between the DA and the fourth-largest party, the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), appears to be one of the main sticking points.
The left-leaning EFF has said it will not take part in any deal involving the centrist DA, which it accuses of being racist and opposing policies that would address South Africa's past injustices, such as black economic empowerment and land redistribution.
The two parties remain ideologically at odds, with the DA declaring the EFF its main rival last year.
The hostility between the two parties means the ANC may have to form a national unity government that does not include the EFF and MK, which could be repeated in provincial coalition governments, where the ANC has also failed to maintain majorities in several provinces.
