ANC seeks suitable election date

2008-11-24 13:06

Johannesburg - The African National Congress is trying to find a suitable date for next year's elections that falls outside the busy Easter holiday period, said secretary general Gwede Mantashe on Monday.

The party has been looking at a range of Wednesdays next year and has considered March 25 and May 6 because these fall outside of the holidays.

"Any other date may be impacted by the school holidays and the Easter weekend," said Mantashe.

The date is ultimately set by the president of the republic.

Much of the focus of this weekend's ANC National Executive Committee meeting was on preparations for the elections, he said.

This coming weekend the party would meet to discuss its election manifesto and would include submissions and suggestions from the public.

The manifesto will be launched on January 10 and 11 in the Eastern Cape's Amathole region.

The party's deadline for list candidates from branches is set at December 15.

- SAPA