ActionSA provides insights at National Dialogue on Coalition Framework
4 August 2023
ActionSA, today, attended the National Dialogue on a Coalition Framework, hosted by Deputy President, Paul Mashatile, and submitted views of where we believe the Coalition Framework is on the right path and where we believe it is found to be lacking.
From the outset, ActionSA flagged that we currently have our last majoritarian Parliament in our democracy and should therefore consider important legislative changes that will define the direction of multi-party coalitions to follow for many years to come.
It has further been recorded by ActionSA that the Coalition Framework focuses almost exclusively on legislative reform in a misguided view that we can legislate stable coalitions. ActionSA submits that countries with stable coalitions establish institutions that invest in the maturation of political parties, civil society and voters with a coalition context.
A key question ActionSA has flagged is the advice offered by researchers in the Coalition Framework that coalition instability must be mitigated by a professional public service that continues to function to the benefit of all residents even in times of political instability. ActionSA has recorded that this advice remains antithetical to the ANC’s policy on cadre deployment and this cannot be another example of ignoring what is needed for our country because it is in conflict with ANC policy.