Thabo Mbeki Says He Will Not Seek 3rd Term

South African President Says He Will Not Seek 3rd Term
By VOA News 05 February 2006

Thabo Mbeki

South African President Thabo Mbeki has ruled out changing the country's constitution to allow him to stay in office when his term ends in 2009.

Mr. Mbeki told the South African Broadcasting Corporation Sunday that he will not seek a third term.

There had been speculation that he would use the huge majority in parliament of his African National Congress party to alter the current two term limit.

Mr. Mbeki said that by 2009, he will have held a senior government position for 15 years and that it is time "to step aside".

He is South Africa's second elected president after Nelson Mandela, winning re-election by a huge majority in 2004.

Political analysts say the race to succeed Mr. Mbeki remains wide open. Former deputy president Jacob Zuma, once regarded as the favorite, was fired by the president last year because of a corruption scandal.

South African President Says He Will Not Seek 3rd Term

Thabo Mbeki rules out changing country's constitution to allow him to stay in office when his term ends in 2009UN Cites Slow Progress in Fight Against Female Genital Mutilation
UNICEF calls for stronger action to end practice, which is inflicted on an estimated three million girls each year

South African President Rules Out A Third Term
By Ashenafi Abedje Washington, DC06 February 2006

listen to interview with Adam Habib

South African President Thabo Mbeki has ruled out changing the constitution to allow him to stay in office when his term ends in 2009. During an interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation, Mr. Mbeki said by 2009 he will have held a senior government position for 15 years and that it will be time "to step aside." He said he will not use his African National Congress party's huge majority in parliament to alter the current two-term limit. Mr. Mbeki is South Africa's second elected president after Nelson Mandela, winning re-election by a huge majority in 2004.

Professor Adam Habib is the director of the Democracy and Governance Research Program at South Africa's Human Sciences Research Council. He told English to Africa reporter Ashenafi Abedje President Mbeki's stand on the third-term issue is consistent with his previous statements. Professor Habib attributes Mr. Mbeki's decision not to pursue a third-term to two factors. He says the first relates to the "significant separation of powers in South African society that doesn't lend itself to a single individual dominating society – as is the case in many African countries." The other, he says, pertains to Mr. Mbeki's personality. Professor Habib describes the South African leader as "a grand old nationalist who wants to prove to the world it's possible to be both African and modern. That a third term run by him will give ammunition to those in the right in both Europe and the United States who have a caricatured version of African leaders, all wanting to stand for a third term."

The South African analyst commented on speculation about a possible third-term bid by Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo. He says if such a scenario came to pass, "democracy will be weakened, not so much by the third term bid itself, but by the act of changing the constitution" to achieve that end. Professor Habib says President Mbeki's disavowal of a third term sends a strong signal to the continent's other leaders. It says to those contemplating third term bids that "it's not politically kosher to run for a third term, or to change constitutions toward that end." He says, "Such a message will be good for democratic consolidation on the continent as a whole."

South African President Rules Out A Third Term
Mr. Mbeki's stance seen as sending signal to other African leaders

South African President Says He Will Not Seek 3rd Term
Thabo Mbeki rules out changing country's constitution to allow him to stay in office when his term ends in 2009

UN Cites Slow Progress in Fight Against Female Genital Mutilation
UNICEF calls for stronger action to end practice, which is inflicted on an estimated three million girls each year

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