De Klerk Offers 1994 Open Vote; ANC Wants 1993

President Frederik W. de Klerk, seeking to answer critics who doubt his resolve to relinquish power, proposed a negotiations timetable Thursday that would give South Africa its first multiracial elections in March or April, 1994.

The announcement brought an angry response from the African National Congress, De Klerk’s main black opposition, which wants an election sometime in 1993. The president’s target date, the ANC said, is “totally unacceptable.”

Any election date would have to be agreed to by De Klerk, ANC President Nelson Mandela and other leaders negotiating the country’s future. And significant progress in negotiations must be made early next year to meet either of the timetables advanced by the ANC and the government.

But ANC leaders had hoped, in closed-door talks next week with the government, to press De Klerk for an early election date in exchange for ANC concessions on other issues. The ANC modified its bargaining position Wednesday, closing the gap between it and the government by agreeing to allow minority parties, such as De Klerk’s ruling National Party, a significant say in an interim government, even if the ANC wins a majority of the vote.

Many ANC leaders remain suspicious of De Klerk’s sincerity, arguing that the president wants to delay the negotiations process to hang on to power. Although De Klerk’s term of office expires in late 1994, political analysts say he could force legislation through Parliament that would keep him in power until negotiations have concluded.

Speaking to reporters in Cape Town on Thursday, De Klerk said his target election date is flexible; elections could be held earlier or later, depending on the pace of negotiations.

And the announcement appeared to be part of an attempt by De Klerk to prove his sincerity about reform at a time when his government has been beset by revelations of bureaucratic corruption and security force operations to discredit the ANC.

But De Klerk contended that the timetable is designed to dampen hopes raised by the ANC that elections could be held in 1993. “We are trying to illustrate practically that it will take longer than what some people are suggesting,” the president said. “We want to put the debate on a realistic level and answer allegations that we are clinging to power.”

Those first elections, whether in 1993 or 1994, will select a constituent assembly that will function both as an interim government and as a constitution-writing body. Both the ANC and the government agree that the interim government would be one of “national unity,” meaning that all parties with significant support would have a say in the legislature.

Under De Klerk’s proposed timetable, the government’s one-on-one talks with the ANC and other parties would be concluded by the end of February, 1993. And they would be followed by a new round of multi-party negotiations in March.

The government hopes that those negotiations would be concluded in May, allowing the first step in the transition process--transitional councils--to begin sitting in June.

The government and the ANC already have reached agreement on the need for those transitional councils, which will temporarily oversee key government departments, including the state-run broadcasting service, the police and a new election commission.

The goal of the councils is to level the playing field for elections, and they will be made up of all parties in the negotiations, including the ANC and De Klerk’s ruling National Party.

The ANC has argued that any delay in elections will hurt the country’s economy, foster violence and anger the 29 million blacks who outnumber whites 5-to-1 but still do not have the vote. “The economy cannot sustain a further year of corruption and mismanagement,” the ANC said. “Increasing uncertainty will clearly be accompanied by escalating violence, growing unemployment and deteriorating socioeconomic conditions.”