South Africa's Parliament choosing president amidst uncertainty

The governing ANC is depending on former foes to give Cyril Ramaphosa a second term and extend its three-decade hold on power.

South Africa’s newly elected parliament has convened to choose the country’s next president, with the country on a political knife-edge since last month’s election.

Lawmakers meeting on Friday are expected to re-elect President Cyril Ramaphosa to form an unprecedented coalition government after his governing African National Congress (ANC) party cobbled together a coalition deal following the May 29 vote.

Ramaphosa, 71, is seeking a second term but his ANC party has been weakened after losing its long-held majority, gathering 40 percent of the vote. It will now need the support of other parties if Ramaphosa is to return as president.

On Friday, the ANC reportedly reached a deal on forming a unity government with Democratic Alliance, a key party in coalition talks after winning a 21 percent share of the vote.

The agreement, which also includes the Inkatha Freedom Party and Patriotic Alliance, would see the DA take the position of deputy speaker, according to public broadcaster SABC. It was unclear whether it would see coalition partners electing Ramaphosa as president.

“Just how stable the government will be is uncertain because there’s just so much uncertainty around the negotiations so far,” said Al Jazeera’s Fahmida Miller, reporting from Cape Town. “It is very important that the government be stable, especially for South Africa’s economy that has been struggling,” she added.

Economists and the markets had reacting quite favourably to the putative coalition deal with the DA and the Inkatha Freedom Party, said Miller. “It would indicate for the markets the most stable government,” she said.

In power for 30 years, the ANC had proposed forming a government of national unity in the wake of the election and invited all of the other 17 parties that won seats in parliament to join. Some refused.

Ramaphosa could have a smooth passage to a second term if he is the only candidate nominated, in which case he would be elected automatically. But if other candidates are nominated by other parties, a vote follows.

The ANC was also facing a deadline to pull together a coalition agreement of some sort given parliament must sit for the first time and vote for the president within 14 days of the election results being declared. The deadline is Sunday.

Friday’s sitting is expected to take hours, with the 400-member parliament first electing a speaker and deputy speaker before the vote for president. At least one party, the MK Party of former ANC leader and South African President Jacob Zuma, has said it will boycott the first sitting and its 58 lawmakers will not take their seats.

That is not expected to affect the voting procedure as South Africa’s constitution says that at least one-third of the 400 lawmakers need to be present for a quorum and for votes to take place. The ANC has more than a third of seats on its own.

South Africa has not faced this level of political uncertainty since the ANC swept to power in the first all-race election in 1994, ending nearly a half-century of white minority rule under the apartheid system of racial segregation.

The ANC has held a clear majority in parliament ever since then, meaning elections for president were formalities and every South African leader since has been from the ANC, starting with Nelson Mandela.

Parliament will also convene in an unusual setting after a fire in 2022 gutted the National Assembly building in Cape Town. So lawmakers will decide the next leader of their country at a conference centre near the city’s waterfront.

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Al Jazeera and news agencies