Africa Muslim Party
Encyclopedia
Politics of South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a unitary, parliamentary republic. The President of South Africa is both head of state and head of government; in the same manner as the prime minister of other nations, the President is elected by the National Assembly and must enjoy the confidence of the Assembly...
Muslim
Islam in South Africa
Islam in South Africa pre-dates the colonial period, and consisted of isolated contact with Arab and East Africa traders. Many South African Muslims are described as Coloureds, notably in the Western Cape, including those whose ancestors came as slaves from the Indonesian archipelago...
political party. It was founded in 1994, with Gulam Sabdia as Chairman and Imtiaz Suleman as national leader, and competed in the 1994 elections
South African general election, 1994
The South African general election of 1994 was an election held in South Africa to mark the end of apartheid, therefore also the first held with universal adult suffrage. The election was conducted under the direction of the Independent Electoral Commission .Millions queued in lines over a three...
with few (around 78,000) votes to account for (it had put up 60 candidates for the National Assembly
National Assembly of South Africa
The National Assembly is the lower house of the Parliament of South Africa, located in Cape Town, Western Cape Province. It consists of no fewer than 350 and no more than 400 members...
and 25 for the Council of Provinces
National Council of Provinces
The National Council of Provinces is the upper house of the Parliament of South Africa under the constitution which came into full effect in 1997...
). It competed in the 1999 elections
South African general election, 1999
South Africa's second non-racial general election, held on 2 June 1999 was won by the African National Congress , who increased their number of seats by 14. Notable was the sharp decline of the New National Party, previously the National Party , who without former president F.W. de Klerk lost more...
, but only in Western Cape
Western Cape
The Western Cape is a province in the south west of South Africa. The capital is Cape Town. Prior to 1994, the region that now forms the Western Cape was part of the much larger Cape Province...
province, achieving 9,513 votes from the single province; the next year, the AMP competed in elections for Cape Town
Cape Town
Cape Town is the second-most populous city in South Africa, and the provincial capital and primate city of the Western Cape. As the seat of the National Parliament, it is also the legislative capital of the country. It forms part of the City of Cape Town metropolitan municipality...
metropolitan area and received 2 seats in the local legislature. After sitting out of the 2004 elections
South African general election, 2004
Legislative elections were held in South Africa on Wednesday, 14 April 2004. The African National Congress of President Thabo Mbeki, which came to power after the end of the apartheid system in 1994, was re-elected with an increased majority....
, the AMP competed again for the Cape Town Metro council in 2006
South African municipal election, 2006
Municipal elections were held in South Africa on 1 March 2006, to elect members to the local governing councils in the municipalities of South Africa...
, gaining 3 seats. After the 2006 local government elections, it joined the multi-party coalition
Coalition
A coalition is a pact or treaty among individuals or groups, during which they cooperate in joint action, each in their own self-interest, joining forces together for a common cause. This alliance may be temporary or a matter of convenience. A coalition thus differs from a more formal covenant...
led by Democratic Alliance) which supports the current mayoral government of the DA's Helen Zille
Helen Zille
Helen Zille is the Premier of the Western Cape, a member of the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, leader of South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance political party, and a former Mayor of Cape Town.Zille is a former journalist and anti-apartheid activist, and famously exposed the truth...
. Its participation in the coalition was short lived and was expelled in January 2007 when it was revealed that AMP councillor Badih Chaaban
Badih Chaaban
Badih Chabaan is a PR councillor in the Cape Town City Council . He was a member of the Africa Muslim Party when he was named councillor in August 2006 but later crossed the floor to establish the National People's Party , which Chabaan leads as president...
tried to make a coalition deal with the African National Congress
African National Congress
The African National Congress is South Africa's governing Africanist political party, supported by its tripartite alliance with the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party , since the establishment of non-racial democracy in April 1994. It defines itself as a...
(ANC) in which Chaaban would become the mayor in return for toppling the DA-led coalition. This plot had failed when the Independent Democrats (ID) joined the multi-party coalition and bolstered Zille's position.
Controversy
The AMP has been attracting unwanted controversy in recent years, which peaked most recently in the 2006 elections, in which a pamphlet which derided the Democratic Alliance's national leader Tony LeonTony Leon
Anthony James "Tony" Leon is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance. Although still a member of the DA, he currently serves as the South African Ambassador to Argentina under the ANC government.-Early life:Leon grew up...
and his wife Michal as "supporters of the racist and murderous Israeli government" was being circulated through Tafelsig, Mitchells Plain. The pamphlet was reproduced on AMP's official stationery
Stationery
Stationery has historically meant a wide gamut of materials: paper and office supplies, writing implements, greeting cards, glue, pencil case etc.-History of stationery:...
, but Wasfie Hassiem, the present national leader, flatly denied any ties between the AMP and the pamphlet, alleging that the AMP was being defrauded. The matter has been referred to the Independent Electoral Commission and Cape Town police. After Badih Chaaban
Badih Chaaban
Badih Chabaan is a PR councillor in the Cape Town City Council . He was a member of the Africa Muslim Party when he was named councillor in August 2006 but later crossed the floor to establish the National People's Party , which Chabaan leads as president...
was named AMP city councillor in August 2006, the party came into disrepute over Chaaban's corrupt past business dealings and his failed plot to topple Cape Town mayor Helen Zille.