DA constitutional affairs spokesman Tertius Delport and Sandra Botha are in the running to become leader of the opposition in Parliament, while finance spokesman Ian Davidson is a strong candidate to replace Douglas Gibson as chief whip.
Gibson said yesterday he was also considering standing for the parliamentary leadership pos-ition, having “been approached by a number of people to stand”.
The DA’s parliamentary caucus will choose its leadership team on Thursday next week.
Zille, who won the overwhelming support of delegates at the DA’s federal congress at the weekend as the replacement for Tony Leon, is apparently keen for the rejuvenated party to project a fresh face, with a new leadership team, in Parliament.She also wants the top party structure to reflect the diversity of interests within the party and intends giving greater prominence to federal chairman Joe Seremane.
The separation of the positions of party leader and opposition leader in Parliament has been necessitated by the fact that Zille will retain the mayoralty of Cape Town. While she will play a decisive role in shaping party policy and strategy, it will be the leader of the opposition in Parliament who will be responsible for conveying the party’s message in the National Assembly.
Apart from Delport, a strong Zille supporter, the other candidate for the position is Sandra Botha, a Free State MP who was active in the antiapartheid movement and serves as one of the chairpersons of the National Assembly. Well respected and liked within the party, Botha is, however, seen as lacking the leadership abilities and policy formulation strengths of Delport.
“Botha has no track record of giving leadership on crucial issues,” said one DA insider.
While Delport — a former minister in the National Party government of FW de Klerk and chief NP negotiator at Kempton Park — would resonate with the former New National Party constituency in the DA, he also has strong opponents in the caucus.
Some MPs believe Gibson would not be suitable for the leadership position as he is too closely associated with Leon and his style of opposition.
Leon says he will not try to drive the party from the back seat and will not be available for the leader of the opposition role, although he intends continuing as an MP. It is not clear whether the chief whip will be elected by the caucus. In the past the party leader nominated a candidate which the caucus either accepted or rejected. This may change.
