The Multi-Party Charter (MPC) led by the DA, ACDP, IFP, ActionSA and other opposition parties have snubbed the Referendum Party (RP), which had intended to join the coalition of like-minded opposition parties.
These small parties, formerly known as the moonshot pact, banded together in a bid to fight off the ANC and the EFF in the upcoming general elections.
Yesterday, following the rejection, the RP issued a statement saying it was disappointed but not surprised by the snub, with party leader Phil Craig saying in spite of the rejection, they would still vote with the MPC in the elections.
“The RP is disappointed but not surprised. At our launch in November 2023, we promised voters that nationally we would vote with the Multi-Party Charter to play our part in at least trying to remove the ANC from power. Regardless of this decision, we will honour that promise and vote with the MPC whether we are formally admitted to the charter or not. We are a party who keeps their promises,” said Craig.
Craig added that the rejection does not serve the MPC well in its endeavours to contest the ANC in the elections.
“This decision does not reflect well on the MPC. By their own admission, South Africa is staring down the barrel of a catastrophe which will leave all South Africans destitute. Meanwhile, no serious polling company has given the MPC even the remotest of chances of becoming the party of national government post-2024. Support for the MPC is important symbolically, but to suggest (as Action SA have done in their response to the RP) that it is the only solution is terrifyingly naive. Were it to be the only solution, then South Africa is already doomed,” he said.
The party, which recently supported a stance by the DA to establish an independent Western Cape, said for this to work, the DA needs all its allies.
“There is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution. Cape Independence offers a legitimate and attractive solution to the people of the Western Cape, the majority of whom have never once voted ANC.
“Supporting Cape independence as a solution for the Western Cape should not mean that the RP cannot support other solutions for other parts of South Africa where the political environment is fundamentally different,“ Craig added.
Craig said there is a possible chance that the ANC/EFF coalition will soon become a reality that needs to be confronted by all those who are opposed to it.
“With the very real prospect of an ANC/EFF government on the horizon, the right to self-determination is the most powerful weapon at the disposal of those wishing to neutralise the havoc and destruction which such a government would undoubtedly unleash.
“Many of the parties of the MPC are already openly campaigning for various forms of self-determination. In their rejection of the RP, Action SA described the pursuit of Cape independence as ‘constitutionally offensive’. This is simply absurd,” he said.
The Star
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