De Lille 'won't last the pace'
2004-03-25 22:13
Johannesburg - Independent Democrats leader Patricia de Lille's new approach is not sustainable, said Helen Suzman, veteran politician of the Democratic Alliance (DA), in Sandton on Wednesday night.
Suzman said at a fundraising event for the DA that De Lille still had a long way to go before she could be compared to Suzman herself.
Suzman said she was shocked to hear how many people, who were unhappy with the DA and the New National Party, indicated that they planned to vote for De Lille.
"The reason I would not vote for her is because I simply do not believe in her sustainability. She does not have the support base I had."
Suzman said that De Lille, instead of joining the DA, chose to follow the route of other smaller parties in their "search for gold" on April 14 (election day).
Suzman repeated her strong opposition to the death penalty and emphasised that she differed from DA leader Tony Leon and 75% of the DA caucus in this regard.
In his address, Leon praised Suzman and said that, although she was his political mentor, they didn't agree on all issues.