'Make or break for UDM'

2003-07-26 15:50

Pretoria - The 2004 elections would be make or break for the United Democratic Movement, said party leader Bantu Holomisa when he opened an election strategy workshop in Pretoria on Saturday.

The UDM was only 20 months old when it took part in the 1999 elections, said Holomisa, but it managed to send 16 Members of Parliament to Cape Town - 14 of them to the National Assembly.

The party was represented in six provincial legislatures and was the official opposition in the Eastern Cape and Limpopo, he said.

However, the party would have to make significant gains in the 2004 elections if it was to move forward.

There was a real opportunity for gains, said Holomisa, because there was a large number of undecided voters who were unhappy with the government's performance on important issues such as unemployment, HIV/Aids, crime, and corruption.

The UDM could capitalise on these issues.

The court challenge to the floor-crossing legislation gave the UDM a substantial boost, he said. Before the court saga surveys showed the UDM had one percent support, while a survey done afterwards showed its support at three percent.

However, the floor-crossing episode had made the political scene prone to opportunistic manoeuvres by individuals and parties, he said, and the political situation had become fluid and unstable. As a result, opposition politics was in a crisis. No opposition party could say that it had gained ground since 1999.

The UDM had to decide whether it would stay with an approach of general, constructive opposition or move to a more critical and adversarial strategy.

- SAPA