Democratic Party (South Africa)
Democratic Party Demokratiese Party ( Afrikaans) | |
---|---|
Afrikaans name | Demokratiese Party |
Abbreviation | DP |
First Leaders | Zach de Beer Denis Worrall Wynand Malan |
Last Leader | Tony Leon |
Founded | 1989 |
Dissolved | 24 June 2000 |
Merger of | PFP NRP Independent Party |
Succeeded by | Democratic Alliance |
Headquarters | Cape Town Western Cape |
Ideology | |
Political position | Centre-right |
International affiliation | Liberal International |
Colours | Blue |
Slogan | "Fight Back" |
The Democratic Party (DP) was the name of the South African political party now called the Democratic Alliance. Although the Democratic Party name dates from 1989, the party existed under other labels throughout the apartheid years, when it was the Parliamentary opposition to the ruling National Party's policies.
Background
The Progressive Federal Party had formed the main parliamentary opposition to the Apartheid regime in the whites-only House of Assembly since 1977. But the party was ousted as the official opposition in the 1987 election and pushed into third place behind the far-right Conservative Party, which opposed even the limited reforms the NP had recently implemented. This led to great disillusionment amongst South Africa's white liberal community, and some questioned the merit of continuing to serve in the apartheid parliament. By 1989, they had regrouped, however, and aimed to strengthen the white parliamentary resistance to apartheid; the Progressive Federal Party merged with two smaller reform-minded parties, the Independent Party and the National Democratic Movement (NDM), to become the Democratic Party. The new party had three co-leaders from each of the parties that had entered the merger: Zach de Beer, Denis Worrall and Wynand Malan. De Beer, from the dominant PFP-faction, eventually became the sole leader, however.
History
The DP showed its political strength by winning a local by-election in the mostly Afrikaner
In 1990, the NP shifted its race policies towards the centre.
Post-1994
Following the 1994 election, Tony Leon became the party's sole leader.
Under Leon's leadership, the DP would become the most active and influential opposition party in the National Assembly, despite its small size. A mid-term review in 1997 found that the party's seven members of parliament had asked 50% as many parliamentary questions as the members of the National Party, despite being more than ten times smaller. In 1998, political columnist Howard Barrell wrote that "Seven DP MPs make their National Party counterparts look like 80 feather dusters".[2] The DP won its first local by-election in a traditional NP constituency in March 1997, and this was followed by several others.
1998 to 2000
By 1998, the party was growing its support base significantly, and after the
This electoral success came at a price, however. The party's new supporters largely came from the National Party and consisted overwhelmingly of ethnic minorities, mainly whites.[3][4] The DP had contested the 1999 election with a highly negative campaign under the controversial slogan "Fight Back",[4][3][5] and many, such as ANC President Thabo Mbeki, were of the view that it was "the transformation of the DP into a right wing political party"[6] that allowed it to capture these voters. Leon and other party leaders dismissed this, however, maintaining that the new supporters would not lead the DP to change its principles. Instead, he said the new recruits would have to ascribe to the liberal-democratic values to which the DP had historically adhered.[7]
Formation of the Democratic Alliance
To unify national opposition against the ANC government, the DP and the NNP began planning a merger of the two parties. Accordingly, they formed the Democratic Alliance (DA) in June 2000. The merger agreement was short-lived, with the NNP leaving the alliance in 2001, but the DA closed ranks and retained the new creation, establishing it at all levels of government from 2003 onwards.
Election results
Election | Votes | % | Seats |
---|---|---|---|
1994
|
338,426 | 1.73 | 7 |
1999
|
1,527,337 | 9.56 | 38 |
See also
- Contributions to liberal theory
- Liberal democracy
- Liberalism
- Liberalism in South Africa
- Liberalism worldwide
- List of liberal parties
References
- ^ "Liberals fought the good fight — Subscribe — Politicsweb".
- ^ Barrell, Howard (7 August 1998). "Dear Lord, have mercy on 'Kortbroek'". Retrieved 31 January 2021.
- ^ a b "Discontented whites pin hopes on 'liberal'". the Guardian. 4 June 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ a b "The DA playing up 'swart gevaar' is the legacy of Tony Leon". The Citizen. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "The politician who sells absolution". the Guardian. 21 May 1999. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
- ^ "ANC Today — Volume 1 No 46". 7 December 2001.
- ^ Institutions, Ethnicity, and Political Mobilization in South Africa, page 133