Douglas Harvey Monro Gibson (born 8 August 1942) is a South African retired attorney, politician and diplomat who served as South Africa's ambassador to

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

between 2008 and 2012. Previously, he had served as chief whip of the opposition from 1999 to 2007, as chairperson of the federal council of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

between 1997 and 2000, and as a

Member of the National Assembly of South Africa Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

between 1994 and 2008.

Career

In 1970 Gibson was elected to the

Transvaal Provincial Council The Transvaal Provincial Council was the provincial council of the Transvaal Province in South Africa. It was created by the South Africa Act 1909, from the formation of the Union of South Africa on 31 May 1910, and replaced the Transvaal Legisla ...

for the Benoni Constituency as a member of the United Party. He went on to serve in the provincial council for sixteen years. He was also a town councillor in Benoni between 1972 and 1977. In 1975 Gibson was a member of the delegation which concluded the merger between the Reform Party (led by

Harry Schwarz Harry Heinz Schwarz (13 May 1924 – 5 February 2010) was a South African lawyer, statesman and long-time political opposition leader against apartheid in South Africa, who eventually served as the South African Ambassador to the United States ...

) and the

Progressive Party Progressive Party may refer to: Active parties * Progressive Party, Brazil * Progressive Party (Chile) * Progressive Party of Working People, Cyprus * Dominica Progressive Party * Progressive Party (Iceland) * Progressive Party (Sardinia), Italy ...

(led by

Colin Eglin Colin Wells Eglin (14 April 1925 – 29 November 2013) was a South African politician best known for having served as national leader of the opposition from 1977–79 and 1986–87. He represented Sea Point in the South African Parliament from 19 ...

) to form the Progressive Reform Party, and he has been a member of its successor parties ever since. In 1991, he was elected as the Member of Parliament for the Yeoville Constituency as a member of the

. Gibson was also the leader of the DP in

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 ...

. Gibson became a member of South Africa's first democratically elected parliament in

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 ...

as one of seven DP members in 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 ...

. He was appointed chief whip of the DP caucus and spokesperson for Safety, Security and Justice. In 1997, he was elected chair of the DP's Federal Council, succeeding Dave Gant. Gibson became Chief Whip of the Opposition following the 1999 general election, in which the DP replaced the New National Party as the official opposition to 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 ...

. When parliament reconvened for the first time after the election, he nominated fellow DP MP

Dene Smuts Mudene "Dene" Smuts (13 July 1949 – 21 April 2016) was a South African politician. She was a member of Parliament for the Democratic Alliance, serving in various capacities, including as Shadow Minister of Justice and Constitutional Develop ...

for Deputy Speaker. Smuts lost to the ANC's candidate,

Baleka Mbete Baleka Mbete (born 24 September 1949) is a South African politician who served as the Speaker of the National Assembly of South Africa from May 2014 to May 2019. She was previously Speaker of the National Assembly from 2004 to 2008, and Deputy P ...

. In 2000, the Democratic Alliance was formed out of a merger of the DP and NNP.

James Selfe James Selfe (born 23 August 1955) is a South African politician, a Member of Parliament for the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA), and the party's former Federal Council Chairperson. He is also the party's Shadow Minister of Correctional Serv ...

was then elected to lead the

Democratic Alliance Federal Council The Democratic Alliance Federal Council (FedCo) is the governing and policy-making body of the Democratic Alliance, the official opposition party in South Africa. It sits when the party's Federal Congress is not in session. It has been chaired by ...

. Gibson continued to serve as chief whip until 2007, when

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 lead ...

stepped down as DA leader and

Sandra Botha Celia-Sandra Botha (born 25 February 1945) is a South African politician, who served as South Africa's Ambassador to the Czech Republic. She is the former Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, on behalf of the Democratic Alliance an ...

was elected to succeed him. Ian Davidson was appointed to serve as chief whip. Gibson was then appointed as South Africa's ambassador to

. He officially became ambassador in January 2008 and resigned his seat in the National Assembly. In February 2012, his term as ambassador ended and he returned to South Africa.

Post-political career

In April 2017, Gibson said that former DA leader

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 ...

was "past her shelf life" and urged her to retire after then-DA leader

Mmusi Maimane Mmusi Aloysias Maimane (born 6 June 1980) is a South African politician, businessman, and Leader of Build One South Africa, a political party. Maimane is also the former Leader of South Africa, South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance (So ...

announced that disciplinary proceedings would be taken against her for her controversial tweets on colonialism.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibson, Douglas Living people 1942 births 20th-century South African politicians 21st-century South African politicians White South African people Politicians from Gauteng Members of the House of Assembly (South Africa) Members of the National Assembly of South Africa United Party (South Africa) politicians Democratic Party (South Africa) politicians Democratic Alliance (South Africa) politicians