South Africa's parliament commenced its inaugural session on Friday.
This Friday, the new parliament in Cape Town will hold its inaugural meeting, according to Chief Justice Raymond Zondo's announcement. The primary task for the parliamentarians is to elect the next president of South Africa. Following the recent election on May 29th, the previously ruling ANC, a party led by national icon Nelson Mandela, lost its absolute majority, marking the first time since the end of apartheid 30 years ago that they'll need coalition partners.
Current President Cyril Ramaphosa hopes to secure another term as well as establish a unity government involving a wide spectrum of right and left-leaning political parties. Fervent talks among and within the varied political parties have taken place after the official election results were released on June 2nd. Additionally, the EFF, a leftist party, recently formed an alliance with their opposition, the center-right DA.
After the Election Day on May 29th, the most number of votes were cast for the ANC with 40%, allowing them to appoint 159 MPs out of the 400 total. Historically, they've held 230 MPs. The decrease in support for the ANC can be attributed to several contributing factors like series of corruption scandals in their leadership, elevated unemployment, a weakening economy, high crime rates, and ongoing power outages, which drove many South Africans away from the ruling party.
In terms of representation, the DA is second in line with 87 seats, while MK, a newly-founded party led by former President Jacob Zuma, secured 58 seats, making them the third strongest force. The EFF holds the fourth place with 39 seats.
The MK party has promised to take legal action to prevent the parliament from convening, citing several voting irregularities in the election.
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Following the decline in support for the ANC, the first historical parliament session in South Africa without their absolute majority will take place on Friday. During this session, the newly elected parliamentarians will aim to elect the next president of South Africa, potentially leading to the establishment of a unity government. Despite the MK party's plan to take legal action due to perceived voting irregularities, the Result of the recent election on May 29th resulted in the ANC appointing 159 MPs, a significant decrease from their past record of 230 MPs.
