The largest party of South Africa concluded a coalition agreement with the opposition. This may disrupt Russiaʼs influence in the region

The largest political party of the South African Republic, the African National Congress (ANC), has entered into a coalition agreement with its former political opponent, the Democratic Alliance, the Inkatha Freedom Party and several smaller political forces.

CNN and Deutsche Welle write about it.

In early June, the ANC lost its monomajority in the South African Parliament for the first time in 30 years. This is the worst result in the history of the party, which eliminates any chance of forming a monomajority, as it was before. The Democratic Alliance party, popular mainly among white citizens, businesses and intelligentsia, came second in the election results. And the "Alliance" has a pro-Western and pro-Ukrainian position, which can undermine Russiaʼs long-standing influence in the region.

The leader of the "Democratic Alliance" John Steenhuizen said that today "will go down in the annals of history as the beginning of a new chapter" for South Africa. It can also open up opportunities for Western and Ukrainian diplomacy.

"After two weeks of careful negotiations, which ended only after the start of todayʼs parliamentary session, the Democratic Alliance agreed to form a Government of National Unity," said Steenhuizen.

In the elections, the ANC won 159 out of 400 seats in the parliament, while the Democratic Alliance won 87.

Now the parliament has to elect the president of the country. Since 2018, the position has been held by Cyril Ramaphosa of the African National Congress — criticized for increasing poverty and unemployment in the country, which has a greater impact on the black population of South Africa — and has been the ANCʼs main constituency for many years. However, analysts expect that Rafamos will be re-elected for one more term.