Political Party To Apply To Have Poll Postponed

The Electoral Court will sit in Pretoria on Monday to consider an application by the People's Liberation Party in the first case lodged with the court for the forthcoming election.

The PLP asks that:

- the Electoral Court review and set aside the deposits determined by the Independent Electoral Commission, as published on March 17, 1999;

- the IEC be directed to redetermine the deposits and to consult with and consider the personal financial circumstances of all registered political parties, including the PLP, before fresh deposits are fixed;

- the IEC's refusal to request the State President to postpone the elections within the 90-day period referred to in section 49 of the Constitution be reviewed and set aside;

- the IEC be ordered, in terms of section 21(1) of the Electoral Act, to request the State President to postpone the elections for at least one month;

- the IEC be ordered to grant all political parties sufficient time to submit their candidates' lists and to pay new deposits; and that

- the IEC be ordered to place all parties that have complied with the foregoing on the national ballot.

It will be submitted that the IEC acted arbitrarily and unreasonably, among other things, in that it is said to have taken from October 16, 1998 to March 12, 1999 to determine the amount of the deposits; that it appeared to have possible bias in favour of the New National Party and the African National Congress, which were the only two parties that recommended a deposit of R100,000 in respect of national elections; that it published the cut-off date for payment of deposits only on April 26, 1999, giving only eight days within which to pay; alternatively that the publication date of the fixing of the deposits on March 17, 1999, was too late in that it only gave political parties about six weeks to raise the deposits.

The PLP, which was registered as a political party on April 29, 1999, is said to have started in 1998 and to have applied for registration in the latter part of last year.

It is said to have paid only R20,000 to participate in provincial elections and that the amount was paid under protest on May 7.

It states that it has not charged any membership fees nor held any functions to raise funds and that its prime source of income is from two business people.

Its application states that it has the support of 16 other parties, including the Government of the People Green Party and the Abolition of Income Tax and Usury Free Party, which paid their deposits for the national ballot.

The other parties are Africa Moral Party, Dabalorivhuwa Patriotic Front, Labour Party, Mass United Movement, Workers International Vanguard League, Christian Protestant Party, Employment Movement of South Africa, People's Party, Regte Party, SA Freedom Alliance, Unemployment Labour Alliance, National Coalition Party, Ximoko and Sindawonye Peoples Party.