The Rhodesian Action Party (RAP) was a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

formed in 1977 by a group of MPs from the

Rhodesian Front The Rhodesian Front was a right-wing conservative political party in Southern Rhodesia, subsequently known as Rhodesia. It was the last ruling party of Southern Rhodesia prior to that country's unilateral declaration of independence, and the rul ...

(RF) who were dissatisfied by the leadership of

Ian Smith Ian Douglas Smith (8 April 1919 – 20 November 2007) was a Rhodesian politician, farmer, and fighter pilot who served as Prime Minister of Rhodesia (known as Southern Rhodesia until October 1964 and now known as Zimbabwe) from 1964 to ...

and his attempts to negotiate an 'internal settlement' with African nationalists. Twelve members of the Rhodesia House of Assembly joined the party when it was launched in May 1977, including Ted Sutton-Pryce, Reg Cowper, Ian Sandeman and former Rhodesian Front chairman Des Frost. Accusing the RF of being "completely bankrupt of all ideas", the RAP endorsed "any constructive move towards a settlement of Rhodesia's constitutional problem", in which "people of different cultures can coexist in mutual respect and safety". Frost described Smith as "tired and negative", prompting Smith to describe him as "completely two faced". The defections did not end the RF majority in the Assembly but did deprive it of the two-thirds majority which was needed to amend the constitution and Smith therefore decided to hold an early general election to try to regain the initiative. The party contested 46 out of the 50 white seats at the 1977 general election, with an advertising campaign defiantly proclaiming "if the rest of the world's settlement proposals for Rhodesia don't work - here are Rhodesia's settlement proposals for the rest of the world". However, it performed disastrously, failing to win any of the seats it contested, all of which were won or regained by the RF. The party's overall total was 9.3 per cent. The party remained in existence and fought the Highlands North by-election in 1978 after the internal settlement agreement but did not improve its numbers significantly, with the opposition vote being divided between the party and its rivals, the Rhodesian Conservative Alliance and the reformist National Unifying Force, led by

Allan Savory Clifford Allan Redin Savory (born 15 September 1935) is a Zimbabwean livestock farmer and president and co-founder of the Savory Institute. He originated holistic management, a systems thinking approach to managing resources. Savory advocates ...

. It campaigned for a "no" vote in the 1979 referendum, but was rebuked by

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

Foreign Minister A foreign affairs minister or minister of foreign affairs (less commonly minister for foreign affairs) is generally a cabinet minister in charge of a state's foreign policy and relations. The formal title of the top official varies between cou ...

Pik Botha Roelof Frederik "Pik" Botha, (27 April 1932 – 12 October 2018) was a South African politician who served as the country's foreign minister in the last years of the apartheid era, the longest-serving in South African history. Known as a liber ...

when it claimed that

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

would continue to support Rhodesia were voters to reject the power-sharing settlement. The president of the party, Ina Bursey, told supporters: "In using God's name I am not being irreverent, because if you vote Yes you will inevitably be landed with a Marxist government". Bursey denounced the "yes" vote in the referendum, declaring: "The Rhodesian people have sold their souls to the devil and deserve to reap the fruits of the whirlwind." She announced that the party would be dissolved and that she would be emigrating from Rhodesia herself.''The Economist''
Volume 270, Part 2, page 40

References

External links

FORMATION OF NEW RIGHT-WING RHODESIAN PARTY
5 Jul 1977, AP Archive, Jul 24, 2015 {{Zimbabwean political parties Conservative parties in Zimbabwe Defunct political parties in Zimbabwe Action Party Political parties established in 1977 Protestant political parties White nationalism in Zimbabwe White nationalist parties