ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe says there is a lot to learn from Brazil and its handling of coalition governments.
Mantashe said Brazil’s management of coalitions was of interest to the ruling party, because the South American country has no majority party governing in its political landscape.
“There they piece together ideas of various parties and it gave us a very powerful lesson. What works there is mutual respect for each other. If you respect others and they do not respect you, that arrangement will not work. It is quite important for us to learn from Brazil,” he said.
ANC officials met with Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva and his delegation yesterday on the sidelines of the 15th Brics summit in Sandton, Gauteng.
The parties met to discuss political ties between the ANC and Brazil’s governing Workers’ Party, and other issues of mutual interest.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the meeting focused largely on interparty challenges and how to survive under difficult circumstances.
“What we perceive [that] is not in Brazil is a grand coalition. President Lula [da Silva] won the election and worked with other political parties to win. The main opposition party in Brazil is the party of [Jair] Bolsonaro [Brazil’s former president],” said Mbalula.
SA has a multiparty system.
Mbalula said they raised the issue of the possible expansion of Brics and briefed Da Silva on the Brics Political Parties Plus dialogue that was held.
“We have informed him of some important resolutions we took and he said possible expansion and dedollarisation would form part of the discussions. It is a very complex issue, but we are determined to look at it, and they will look at it from the level of the heads of states,” he said.
ANC met Brazilian counterparts to discuss issues of mutual interest
Mantashe eyes Brazil’s coalition success
Brazil’s political landscape teaches the art of mutual respect in governance, says the ANC national chairperson
ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe says there is a lot to learn from Brazil and its handling of coalition governments.
Mantashe said Brazil’s management of coalitions was of interest to the ruling party, because the South American country has no majority party governing in its political landscape.
“There they piece together ideas of various parties and it gave us a very powerful lesson. What works there is mutual respect for each other. If you respect others and they do not respect you, that arrangement will not work. It is quite important for us to learn from Brazil,” he said.
ANC officials met with Brazilian President Luiz Lula da Silva and his delegation yesterday on the sidelines of the 15th Brics summit in Sandton, Gauteng.
The parties met to discuss political ties between the ANC and Brazil’s governing Workers’ Party, and other issues of mutual interest.
ANC secretary-general Fikile Mbalula said the meeting focused largely on interparty challenges and how to survive under difficult circumstances.
“What we perceive [that] is not in Brazil is a grand coalition. President Lula [da Silva] won the election and worked with other political parties to win. The main opposition party in Brazil is the party of [Jair] Bolsonaro [Brazil’s former president],” said Mbalula.
SA has a multiparty system.
Mbalula said they raised the issue of the possible expansion of Brics and briefed Da Silva on the Brics Political Parties Plus dialogue that was held.
“We have informed him of some important resolutions we took and he said possible expansion and dedollarisation would form part of the discussions. It is a very complex issue, but we are determined to look at it, and they will look at it from the level of the heads of states,” he said.
The ANC was interested in how Brazil succeeded through its difficult period and recovered, he said.
“Brazil underwent a difficult period, where many of its programmes implemented to fight poverty faced assault by the political party that lost power. They are back to that plan of fighting poverty and the ANC government is also trying to reverse poverty among our people.”
The ruling party also reaffirmed its position on anti-imperialism and on working towards a multipolar world, Mbalula said.
– TimesLIVE
Would you like to comment on this article?
Register (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Trending
Related articles
Latest Videos