Political Party Coalitions in Africa: Drawing Lessons from the Experiences of Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique and South Africa

In the period following the first multi-party elections in the nineties, governing and opposition coalitions emerged to play a significant role in the political environment of many African countries. Many of these coalitions were formed for the purpose of either strengthening the governing party or creating a viable and strong parliamentary opposition. Some party coalitions have undoubtedly contributed to consolidating countries' initial steps towards democracy, through power-sharing arrangements. Sadly "unprincipled" political coalitions, which have resulted in political opportunism and short-term political maneuvering, have also been created. In many of these countries there has been a tendency for political parties to coalesce in order to serve particular short-term interests of the key players involved. Whatever the reasons, it is observable that political party coalitions, alliances or even political alignments and cooperative agreements will continue to significantly direct the politics in the continent. However, little analysis of political party coalitions in Africa has been conducted from a comparative perspective.

As a result EISA is currently undertaking a study on coalition practices in five African countries, namely, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique and South Africa. This is primarily a survey that will be undertaken in the form of country papers that aim to investigate coalition formation practices; their purpose, functioning, the reasons for their success/failures. The study will also analyze them from a country specific perspective taking into consideration the different conditions prevailing in each country.

This project is a continuation of the first phase, which culminated with a workshop held by EISA and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation (KAF) in June 2003 in Cape Town in which leaders of the various political parties in South Africa examined the practicalities and their responsibilities in coalition formation and collapse. Political party representatives provided comparative perspectives on topics such as ideologies of political parties in the formation of coalitions, policy frameworks used for implementation and other aspects involved. The next phase intends to deepen research on South Africa while extending it to selected countries on the continent, namely, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius and Mozambique.