partygot 70 per centof the votein the 2009election.The
ANCjustaboutmanaged to holdon to the key provinceof
Gauteng, wheremostof the country’s blackmiddleclass
reside.
Ramaphosa,whoreplaced JacobZumaas leaderof
thepartyandthegovernment, ranhis campaign on an
anti-corruptionplatform.Thenepotismandcronyism
thatcharacterised the ANCrulein the lastdecade alien-
ateda largeswathe of blackvoters.Thiswasreflected in
the voterturnoutfigures.It wasonly66 per centthistime
comparedwith73 per centin the 2014election.In earlier
elections,blackvotersusedto waitpatiently for hoursto
votefor the ANC,whichfreedthemfromthe shacklesof
apartheidandsecond-classcitizenship.
Butthe economicrewardsthatthe endof apartheid
wassupposedto bringremaina pipedreamfor the vast
majority of SouthAfricans.It is saidthatSouthAfrica is a
country wheretheFirstWorldandtheThirdWorld
continue to coexist, albeitpeacefullyfor the timebeing.
Theleft-wingEconomicFreedomFighters(EFF)party,
whichcallsfor radicaleconomicreforms,including the
redistributionof land,increasedits tallyof votesand
seats.Butwithjust10.7percentof thevote,it only
occupies thethirdpositionin Parliament.However,it
hasalmostdoubledits votesharein thiselection.
Theparty,underthe leadershipof JuliusMalema,a
formerleaderof the radicalANCyouthwing,nowhas 44
seatsin Parliament.Themain oppositionparty,the
DemocraticAlliance(D.A.),holds84 seats.Thevote
shareof the centristD.A.has alsogonedownin the 2019
election.It hadexperienced a surgein 2014afterthe
partyleadershipwentto a blackpolitician.TheD.A.is
viewedas representingthewhiteminority,but many
blackmiddle-class votershaveturned to the party.
SomeANCleaders havecreditedtheirvictory to the
leadershipof Ramaphosaandhis anti-corruptioncam-
paign.Theyclaimthatwithouthimat the helm,the ANC
wouldhavegot onlyaround40 per centof the vote.Other
ANCleadersdo notwantto givethecreditto Rama-
phosa.Theysay thateventhe discreditedZumaplayeda
rolein mobilisinghis Zulumassbasein favour of the
party.ANCSecretaryGeneral AceMagashulesaidthe
creditshould go to thepartyandnotto anyspecific
individual.
After the results were announced, Ramaphosa
pledged to rid the partyof “badanddeviant tendencies”.
He promisednotto appointleaders“whofill theirown
pockets”.Buthe hadto reappoint his Deputy President,
DavidMabuza,despiteaccusationsof graftbeinglevelled
againsthim.Mabuzawasthe manresponsiblefor Rama-
phosa’s elevation to thepresidency in 2017.Hehad
backed himat the eleventhhourandhandedRamaphosa
theleadershipof theANC. Thenextfouryearswillbe
crucialfor SouthAfrica.Theeconomyisfloundering and
peoplearebecomingincreasingly restive.Thecallfor
radicallandreformsisgettinglouder.FLAWED EXERCISEINTHAILAND
Themostcontroversialelectoralexercisewastheone
conducted in army-ruledThailand.Fromtheoutset,it
wasevident thatthe electionwould be deeplyflawed.The
process lastedevenlongerthanthatin India.Thaishad
goneto thepollson March24,butthePrimeMinister
waselected onlyin thefirst weekof June.Therewas
initial confusionaboutthenumberof seatswonby the
various parties.TheElectionCommissionhadallowed
many newparties,manyof themproppedup by the
military,to compete in the elections.
Thearmedforceshadpreparedan unevenplaying
fieldfor theopposition.Manyoppositionpartiesand
prominentindividualswerebanned fromcontesting on
oneflimsy pretextor the other.Themilitary-backedPa-
langPracharat Party,despitetheacquiescenceof the
ElectionCommission,couldonlycomesecond.In a hung
parliament,the Pheu Thaiparty, owingallegianceto the
former PrimeMinisterandtelecommagnateThaksin
Shinawatra, got thehighestnumberof seats despite all
the hurdlesplacedin its way.
ThenewThaiConstitutiondraftedunderthe super-
vision of themilitaryjuntawastailoredto ensure that
partieswithpopularsupportwouldnotbe ableto form
thegovernment.A 250-memberSenate,appointed by
the military, hasequalvotingrightsas the electedmem-
bersof the500-strong Lower House.Their jobis to
ensure thatthemilitary’sagendais notderailedby a
popularlyelectedLowerHouse.Themilitary-backed
partyin the LowerHouse has already managedto induce
defectionsfromoppositionpartiesby offering lucrative
ministerial andothergovernmental positions.
Thecurrentmilitaryleaderandcoupleader,Prayuth
Chan-ocha, wasconfirmed as PrimeMinisterin a parlia-
mentaryvotein thefirst weekof June.He got 500votes
after indulging in horse-trading. His sole rival,
Thanathorn Juangroongruankit,got 244 votes. Pray-
uth’scoalitionwillbe an unstableoneas it consists of
representativesfrom20 parties.As of now,Prayuthhas a
slimmajorityin the LowerHouse.Thenewlyelected
lawmakershaveshownthattheycanbe easilyinducedto
defect to thehighestbidder.Thanathorn,theleaderof
theFuture ForwardParty, hastakena strong stand
againstthemilitary, which is backedby themonarchy.
He is the newrisingstarof Thaipolitics.
“Todaywe cannotstopthe dictatorshipbutwe have
not been beaten,” he saidafterthe vote.“It willbe a long
wayto democracyfor Thailand, but we believethe people
willwinin the end.”Thanathorn,whohas a large support
basein the capital, hasthreatenedto launchstreet
protests if meaningfuldemocracyis not restoredsoon.$Themostcontroversial
electoralexercisewasthe
oneconductedinarmy-ruled
Thailand.