Stop+Mbeki,+ANCYL



='Stop Mbeki' - ANCYL=

News24 (and City Press) 10/07/2005 12:02 - (SA)

 * Jimmy Seepe**

Johannesburg - The ANC Youth League (ANCYL) is vehemently opposed to President Thabo Mbeki standing for a third term as party leader, saying the move would develop two centres of power that would create "fertile ground for conflicts of unimaginable proportions".

A document outlining the campaign and the league's reasons for opposing such a move, is to be released next week.

City Press has a leaked copy of the document, entitled "Two Centres of Power Not a Solution to Our Challenges", which was drawn up by ANCYL president Fikile Mbalula and league spokesperson Zizi Kodwa.

The league's statements could place it at odds with more senior structures and people within the movement.

The document, which comes less than a week after Mbeki said he would be available to stand as ANC leader in 2007 if nominated, states that such a situation, which would pit Mbeki against former deputy president Jacob Zuma, was "untenable" and "a recipe for disaster".

Mbeki said in a SABC television interview last weekend that he might consider running for the ANC presidency in 2007.

"If they (the branches) said: 'Well we want you to continue.' Then it's fine. It depends.

"Two-and-a half-years is a long way ahead. I might be too tired by then," Mbeki said.

Although the country's constitution limits the presidency to two terms, the ANC's constitution has no limitation clause on the number of terms its president may serve.

Senior ANC spokesperson Smuts Ngonyama told City Press that Mbeki could not be prevented from making himself available for the party presidency again.

"It is the will of the people based on the challenges of the national democratic revolution of the country that should be considered.

"If ANC members feel they need to go that route (choosing Mbeki), then the people would have spoken," he said. Ngonyama also dismissed the concerns over the "two centres of power".

"There are no two centres of power that would be created. There's only one centre of power in the ANC.

"For instance, we have people who are premiers in the provinces and ANC chairpersons who carry out their work." However, the league said "two centres of power" would mean that "at the helm of our government will be someone who may not have consideration of the priorities of policy implementation in the same manner as understood by the president of the ANC".

According to the document, the issue of leadership and the debate about the two centres of power is a debate that must be raised within the structures of the movement and must be engaged robustly.
 * Maintain status quo**

Kodwa, the league's spokesperson, said: "We need to make sure that whoever is elected in 2007 should become the president of the country in 2009.

"We need to maintain the status quo of having a single president. We need to preserve the position taken at the Mafikeng conference in 1997, which ensured that the president elected became the president of the country in 1999 and 2004."

In the ANCYL document the situation of Mbeki's possible re-election is expressly opposed.

"The argument for the separation of powers must be debated and clarity must be provided whether it is about the organisation or the accommodation of specific individuals.

"We should not craft policies and structures merely to accommodate individuals, no matter how influential and capable those people are, " it said.

The document further states: "The fact of the matter is that Madiba (former president Nelson Mandela) is still respected because he made the honourable decision of stepping down and he let others take up the leadership of our country.

"This is an excellent precedent. Madiba himself had this wisdom that leadership cannot be imposed, by allowing democratic processes to take centre stage.

"The matter about the future of the ANC cannot be left to fate but must be discussed by the structures of the organisation, including the ANCYL.

"This discussion must find expression in the preparations towards the 2007 ANC national conference," the document concluded.


 * From: http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/Politics/0,,2-7-12_1735150,00.html**