Shock election date - 25h march

Necuno

Necuno

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http://www.pretorianews.co.za/?fSectionId=3534&fArticleId=vn20081118114228835C218623
By Moshoeshoe Monare, Gaye Davis and Fiona Forde

The ANC has decided that national and provincial elections should be held on March 25 next year, which is earlier than expected, Independent Newspapers has learned.

The decision comes as the battle over the name of the breakaway Congress of the People (COPE) gets under way in earnest, with the family fight between the ANC and the dissidents now set to be heading straight for the courts.

The earlier date of March 25 could possibly be an attempt to prevent COPE from getting off the ground and posing a significant threat at the polls.

The decision on the date for the elections was taken during the ANC's National Working Committee meeting on Monday.

Lawyers acting for the ANC served a letter of demand on COPE's attorneys on Monday, giving the fledgling party until Thursday to cease using the name and to hand over to the ANC all materials and symbols that carry the name so that they could be destroyed.

But COPE has instructed its lawyers to tell the ANC it will see them in court - setting the stage for what could be a bruising battle over who has the right to the name of an iconic event in South African history - the 1955 Kliptown Congress of the People, where the Freedom Charter was adopted.

ANC spokesperson Carl Niehaus said on Tuesday that a copy of the letter had also been sent to the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC), to register the ANC's objection to the use of the name by party dissidents.

"If the deadline of November 20 is not met, we will appeal to the High Court for relief," Niehaus said. "We are not going to give up on this."

But COPE Deputy Chairperson Mbhazima Shilowa said: "We will not be stopped from using the name Congress of the People. It seems to me that the ANC is becoming a serial abuser of the court process" - a reference to the urgent court challenge the ANC launched on the eve of the national convention in Sandton earlier this month over Cope's first choice of name, the SA National Congress.

"We will not be bullied," Shilowa said. "We will fight this one and we will win."

COPE has already registered its name on the companies' register, Cipro, and applied for registration as a political party with the IEC.

This process will take about two weeks to allow for any objections. COPE organisers have told said that they were advised by lawyers that the ANC would not be able to lay claim to the name as it did not "belong" to anyone.

But Niehaus said: "Our legal advice says exactly the opposite, so we have different (legal) opinions. We have been told we have significant rights in terms of common law rights - in terms of our history and the manner in which the congress was held and how the Freedom Charter was adopted."

Shilowa said it was up to the IEC to decide, after receiving all objections, whether there were any problems with the party's name.

"Once all the objections are in place, the CEO can decide. If there is no agreement, then parties have 30 days in which to take it further.

Shilowa said the ANC's proposed court actions suggested that they did not think the IEC could deal with the determination of the new party's registration application in an objective way.

"It's the legislation they wrote. You can't, when it suits you, try to look at a different route. They can try to take a chance, but they will be laughed out of court," he said.

The letter to COPE's attorneys spells out how the name and the symbol the new party has chosen for its logo - which echoes the congress "wheel", with four spokes - are central to the ANC.

The congress wheel still forms part of the ANC's own logo.

"It explains how the congress was a central event in the history of the ANC, how it was convened and by whom and how the Freedom Charter was adopted.

The Freedom Charter was used by the ANC as a mobilising tool and is a policy cornerstone of the ANC," Niehaus said.

The letter also explains how the ANC itself is referred to in many African languages as "congress of the people".

"In the minds of the people, the ANC is the congress of the people," Niehaus said.

"This is an issue especially for the IEC, in that parties should not adopt names that are unnecessarily confusing to voters.

"The symbol of the congress of the people at Kliptown was the wheel, with the name of the ANC on the hub, and the names of its alliance partners on the spokes radiating out from it - putting the ANC at the centre.

"We see it as a singular and critical part of our history," Niehaus said.

"We have no problem with them (the dissidents) starting their own party, but do they have an identity of their own or do they just want to cannibalise the ANC's?

"It's provocative." - Additional Reporting by Ella Smook
Click to expand...
 
"The earlier date of March 25 could possibly be an attempt to prevent COPE from getting off the ground and posing a significant threat at the polls."


Yeah... obviously.

If the ANC wanna play dirty (and thats all they ever do) then everyone must play dirty. Its called equality, something they "apparently" fought for. Eish
 
More importantly. As the 21st is already a public holiday. Will the 25th be one like the last elections?? :D:cool:
 
Quick question:
why does the ANC get to decide?
Is that not the IEC's job?
 
Moederloos said:
Quick question:
why does the ANC get to decide?
Is that not the IEC's job?
Click to expand...
No. SA Constitution 49 (2): If the National Assembly is dissolved in terms of section 50, or when its term expires, the President, by proclamation must call and set dates for an election, which must be held within 90 days of the date the Assembly was dissolved or its term expired. A proclamation calling and setting dates for an election may be issued before or after the expiry of the term of the National Assembly.

Para 50 makes provision for President to dissolve parliament after 3 years but before expiration of term.

Why does the ANC decide? Well, the POTROSA is a member of the ANC.

In almost all democracies the executive, acting through its highest office bearer, the president, gets to decide. The USA is one of few countries where the dates are fixed (eg POTUS elections every 4 years on 1st Tuesday in November).
 
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When I was registering to vote, they said they would be open for more registrations in Feb. What happened to that? Is that not going to happen now because its so close to the election date?
 
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The ANC denied a news report on Tuesday that general elections would be held on March 25, 2009.

"Reports to the effect that the ANC has come up with a date are totally untrue," said African National Congress spokesman Brian Sokutu. - Sapa
Click to expand...

Hmmmm.....
 
Who the hell cares what the party gets called. They're going to be referred to by their acronym nearly 100% of the time anyway. In addition the congress to which the ANC is referring was bloody 50 years ago.
 
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