ANC statement on recent elections in Europe and the present global challenges
9 July 2024
The African National Congress (ANC) congratulates the people of the United Kingdom and France for their respective successful elections in the past week. We send a special word of congratulations to the Labour Party in the United Kingdom and the New Popular Front in France.
The new administrations in the UK and France will assume office in the context of an international situation that is fraught with major geopolitical tensions and further humanitarian risks attached to those.
Poverty and inequality have been persistent and are putting strain on democratic politics the world over.
Multilateralism is under immense pressure but is more needed now than before, albeit in a renewed sense. The ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, especially the inability of multilateral bodies and great powers to end these, animate a larger crisis of an international order that is lacking a common moral vision for humanity and highlight a dire need for visionary leaders to step up and pull humanity from the brink.
The South African government has been unrelenting in the fight to defend the cause of peace, justice, solidarity and multilateralism in the international arena. Our unwavering commitment to a rules-based international order, justice and international law are expressed in our recent case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Our defense of the people of Palestine is at the same time an assertion of the rights and sovereignty of all oppressed peoples worldwide. Our position is a strong call for a global fight for human rights and the right to self-determination; as well as a categorical rejection of wars of aggression as legitimate means of solving political problems.
The global situation is currently demanding a fundamental rethink on the part of European leaders on how they wish to engage with the world and be received. Ongoing discussions about climate justice and the distribution of climate responsibility between the developed and developing nations is amongst the pressing challenges of our time. The major issue is how developed states should meaningfully shoulder the greatest responsibility for climate change, considering the known history of the combined but uneven development of the world.
Similarly, the recent developments in the Sahel region of Africa raise important questions for European governments, especially the new French administration, to consider with respect to their foreign policy approaches. A new global consensus for peace must be forged and ought to address itself to the root causes of conflict. The unfolding humanitarian crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where brute force and displacement continue to devastate communities, exemplifies such conflict whose roots- the exploitation of natural resources in a manner that undermines local development- require attention.
Therefore, we hope that the electoral victories of parties who claim a commitment to progressive politics will be reflected in the actions of those states; acting internally and outwardly to safeguard social justice, equality, and other progressive values. The policy posture of the new administrations must inspire hope for a global shift towards a more just and equitable world, consistent with the ANC's vision for a better Africa and better world. They must signal a pushback against the rising tide of right-wing nationalism, unilateralism, anti-immigrant sentiment and xenophobic impulses sweeping across the globe.
The ANC remains committed to the principles of progressive internationalism, human rights, social justice and an end to a politics of war. We are forever open to global partnerships and cooperation that uphold these values and will eagerly work with all those who share in them.
Let's do more, together.
Issued by ANC, 9 July 2024
