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SMALL political parties, with Christianity as a common denominator, have decided to band together in a bid to oppose the African National Congress (ANC) and the Democratic Alliance (DA) in the national elections in April 2009.

Kevin Southgate, the chairperson the Steenberg Community Police Forum, along with ex-mayor Peter Marais, could be in the running for next year?s general elections. The Christian Democratic Alliance (CDA), an alliance of the New Labour Party, the Federation of Democrats (FD), the Christian Democratic Party (CDP) and the Alliance for Community Transformation (ACT) presented their Christian Charter to parliament on Wednesday.

According to the charter, the alliance is pro the death penalty, pro-life and against same-sex marriages.

Marais, the former mayor of Cape Town and later premier of Western Cape Province, says he returned to politics only two months ago after a long break, in the role of the CDA's national spokesperson.

Louis Green, the leader of the Federation of Democrats and the former deputy president of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP), says that the ACDP was formally invited to join the CDA, but he says the offer was declined because the ACDP already has an alliance with the DA.

Green says that while he can only speak as the leader of the FD, he says that Marais and Southgate will be playing a prominent role in the CDA in the up-coming elections, on both a provincial and possibly at a national level.Green says that he will be running for parliament at a national level.

However, Marais says the leaders of the CDA needed to sit down to discuss what role each will play in the elections and in which province. He says they are currently negotiating with additional political parties in other provinces to join the alliance.He says that with only nine months to go before the next elections, the CDA could start actively campaigning by the end of the year. Marais says that Southgate is currently acting as the secretary of the alliance at a national level.

Southgate says that he will be making himself available as a candidate in next year's general election, should the party so request.

"Our communities need public representatives who care and who do not only serve because it is politically expedient for them to do so," says Southgate.

When asked if he would be standing down from his position as chairperson and executive member of the CPF, Southgate says that even while he was a member of parliament, he served as the CPF chairperson.

"I remained objective and never allowed the CPF to become a political battleground. As a result, I was repeatedly asked by people to make myself available for CPF elections. When I didn?t return to public office, my commitment to serve people, and especially my community, has remained resolute. My involvement attests to that. It was never and will never be about a position," he says.

DA Councillor Gerald Morkel of Ward 68, and the former mayor of Cape Town, says he was surprised when he heard about the development of the CDA. He says he did not believe there was a place for small parties or splinter groups.

"You already have the ACDP, and now you will have two little parties," says Morkel.

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