The Africa Muslim Party is a South African

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

political party. It was founded in 1994, with Gulam Sabdia as Chairman and Imtiaz Suleman as national leader, and competed in the 1994 elections, winning no seats (it had put up 60 candidates for the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...

and 25 for the Council of Provinces). It competed in the

1999 elections The following elections occurred in the year 1999. * 1999 electoral calendar Africa * 1999 Algerian presidential election * 1999 Botswana general election * 1999 Beninese parliamentary election * 1999 Central African Republic presidential elect ...

(as the Africa Moral Party), but only in

Western Cape The Western Cape is a province of South Africa, situated on the south-western coast of the country. It is the fourth largest of the nine provinces with an area of , and the third most populous, with an estimated 7 million inhabitants in 2020 ...

province, achieving 9,513 votes and no seats; the next year, the AMP competed in elections for

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

metropolitan area and received 2 seats in the local legislature. The AMP competed again for the Cape Town Metro council in

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, gaining 3 seats. After the 2006 local government elections, it joined the multi-party

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

led by Democratic Alliance) which supported the mayoral government of the DA's

Helen Zille Otta Helene Maree (''née'' Zille ; born 9 March 1951), known as Helen Zille, is a South African politician. She has served as the Chairperson of the Federal Council of the Democratic Alliance since 20 October 2019. From 2009 until 2019, she w ...

. Its participation in the coalition was short-lived, and it was expelled in January 2007 when it was revealed that AMP councillor

Badih Chaaban Badih Chabaan (c. 1960 - 4 September 2017) was a PR councilor in the Cape Town City Council (Subcouncil 17 (Athlone & District)). He was a member of the Africa Muslim Party (AMP) when he was named councilor in August 2006 but later crossed the fl ...

tried to make a coalition deal with the

African National Congress The African National Congress (ANC) is a Social democracy, social-democratic political party in Republic of South Africa, South Africa. A liberation movement known for its opposition to apartheid, it has governed the country since 1994, when ...

(ANC) in which Chaaban would become the mayor in return for toppling the DA-led coalition. This plot had failed when the

Independent Democrats The Independent Democrats (ID) was a South African political party, formed by former Pan Africanist Congress member Patricia de Lille in 2003 via floor crossing legislation. The party's platform was premised on opposition to corruption, with ...

(ID) joined the multi-party coalition and bolstered Zille's position. The party joined forces with

Al Jama-ah Al Jama-ah (, ) is a South African political party. It was formed in 2007 by present leader Ganief Hendricks and contested the 2009, 2014 and 2019 national elections. The party aims to support Muslim interests and uphold Shari'a law. The flag o ...

for the

2014 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2014. * 2014 United Nations Security Council election 16 October 2014 Africa * 2014 Algerian presidential election 17 April 2014 * 2014 Botswana general election 24 October 2014 * 2014 Comorian presi ...

, campaigning under that party's banner, but again failed to win any seats.

Controversy

The AMP attracted notable controversy, peaking in the 2006 elections, in which a pamphlet which derided the Democratic Alliance's national leader

Tony Leon Anthony James Leon (born 15 December 1956) is a South African politician who served as leader of the opposition from 1999-2007 as leader of the Democratic Alliance (DA). He led the DA from its inception in 2000, until his retirement from lea ...

and his wife Michal as ''"supporters of the racist and murderous Israeli government"'' was being circulated through Tafelsig,

Mitchells Plain Mitchells Plain is a large township located within the City of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa and situated about from the Cape Town city centre. It is one of South Africa's largest residential areas and contains multiple smaller suburbs ...

. The pamphlet was reproduced on AMP's official

stationery Stationery refers to commercially manufactured writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, writing implements, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery includes materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) ...

, but Wasfie Hassiem, the then national leader, flatly denied any ties between the AMP and the pamphlet, alleging that the AMP was being defrauded.Anel Powell
"Muslim party slams 'racist' pamphlet", June 5 2006
/ref> The matter has been referred to the Independent Electoral Commission and Cape Town police. After

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.

Election results

National elections

, - ! Election ! Total votes ! Share of vote ! Seats ! +/– ! Government , - !

1994 File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...

, 34,466 , 0.18% , , – , , -

Provincial elections

! rowspan=2 , Election ! colspan=2 ,

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...

! colspan=2 , Free State ! colspan=2 ,

Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

! colspan=2 ,

Kwazulu-Natal KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is locate ...

! colspan=2 ,

Limpopo Limpopo is the northernmost province of South Africa. It is named after the Limpopo River, which forms the province's western and northern borders. The capital and largest city in the province is Polokwane, while the provincial legislature is ...

! colspan=2 ,

Mpumalanga Mpumalanga () is a province of South Africa. The name means "East", or literally "The Place Where the Sun Rises" in the Swazi, Xhosa, Ndebele and Zulu languages. Mpumalanga lies in eastern South Africa, bordering Eswatini and Mozambique. It ...

! colspan=2 ,

North-West The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, Radius, radially arrayed compass directions (or Azimuth#In navigation, azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east ...

! colspan=2 ,

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

! colspan=2 ,

, - ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats ! % !! Seats , - !

, - , , 0/56 , - , , 0/30 , 0.31% , , 0/86 , 0.49% , , 0/81 , - , , 0/40 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/30 , 0.98% , , 0/42 , - ! 1999 , - , , 0/63 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/73 , - , , 0/80 , - , , 0/49 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/33 , - , , 0/30 , 0.60% , , 0/42 , - ! 2004 , - , , 0/63 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/73 , - , , 0/80 , - , , 0/49 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/33 , - , , 0/30 , 0.70% , , 0/42 , - !

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, - , , 0/63 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/73 , - , , 0/80 , - , , 0/49 , - , , 0/30 , - , , 0/33 , - , , 0/30 , 0.22% , , 0/42 , -

References

External links

Official Website

IOL.co.za - ''"Muslim party slams 'racist' pamphlet"''
{{South African political parties 1994 establishments in South Africa Islamic political parties in South Africa Political parties established in 1994

Controversy

Election results

National elections

Provincial elections

See also

References

External links