JOHANNESBURG : A New Politics
South Africa’s ruling National Party, which created apartheid in 1948 and began dismantling it in 1990, will hold its political convention Wednesday and Thursday to announce its parliamentary candidates and present its platform for the country’s first multiracial democratic elections.
In a keynote address, President Frederik W. de Klerk is expected to argue that the old right-wing party of white power and privilege has been transformed into a progressive, multiracial party uniquely qualified to govern a new South Africa.
The faithful will discuss the restructuring of the party, including a new constitution. Nevertheless, polls show the National Party is likely to run a distant second to Nelson Mandela’s African National Congress when voters cast their ballots April 27-29.
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