South African incumbent President and African National Congress (ANC) leader Thabo Mbeki was elected unopposed for a second term here on Friday after his ruling party scored its biggest victory in a decade of multiracial democracy. Dancers, drum beats and a military band rejoiced outside the Parliament buildings, as parliamentarians broke into cheers after reelecting Mbeki at their first session since the April 14 general elections. Mbeki is headed for a second and final presidential term on a pledge to battle unemployment, poverty, crime, and HIV/AIDS.

The ANC, which has governed since apartheid ended in 1994, won 279 of the National Assembly's 400 seats and also led in voting for all nine provincial assemblies. The assembly's first official act was to elect Deputy Speaker Baleka Mbete speaker of the house, replacing Frene Ginwala who had held the post since 1994. Mbete was fighting back tears as she took her new seat.

"I am awed by the confidence and responsibility bestowed on me," she told the assembly, adding that hard work lay ahead them. "Wedare not fail our people." Mbeki, dressed in a blue suit and silver tie, was among the first members to be sworn in by Chief Justice Arthur Chaskalson. He will be sworn in as president on April 27, the day South Africa celebrates its first decade of multiracial democracy. Addressing 400 new members of the parliament upon his reelection, the 62-year-old president said, "We share a common responsibility to encourage our political organizations as well as inspire and mobilize the people, to join hands in a popular national movement to speed up the process towards the achievement of the goal of a better life for all our people."

All opposition parties, including the Democratic Alliance (DA),the Inkatha Freedom Party and the United democratic Movement, congratulated Mbeki on his success in reelection. DA leader Tony Leon's message as MPs reelected Mbeki as leader of South Africa on Friday was a conciliatory one. "We are rivals, but not enemies, whatever our political differences," he said. "The president will have the full support of the DA as he confronts his challenges," Leon said as the first MP to speak after Mbeki's reelection in the national assembly. Leon said that while the DA and the ANC did not always agree onhow these challenges should be met, the official opposition was willing to work together with government. "I would like to extend my hand to the president so we can honor our common commitment to the people of South Africa," he added. United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa was in a jovial mood as he took to the podium. "Apologies, Madam Speaker, I forgot that I am now the fourth-largest party," he said. However, he warned Mbeki that the UDM would be watching to ensure the needs of South Africans were met.

"The people have given you and your new executive a mandate to fight poverty and create jobs. I want to assure you that we will be there to ensure that this mandate is met," he said. New National Party leader Marthinus van Schalkwyk said his party would continue to work with the government to create opportunities for all South Africans. "There are great challenges ahead, but even greater potential," he said. Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi wished Mbeki success with his new, yet-to-be-announced Cabinet. He said he hoped that through Mbeki's leadership, promises to the people and their expectations would be fulfilled, and the problems facing the country addressed. The IFP, as a democratic party, would also support Mbeki in all his efforts to strengthen democracy in South Africa, Buthelezi said. Independent Democrats (ID) leader Patricia de Lille said Mbeki's election was in the country's best interests, and her party looked forward to working with him.

The ID would be a constructive, but fearlessly independent, opposition, she said. Freedom Front Plus leader Pieter Mulder also congratulated Mbeki, and pledged his party would continue to be constructive in its approach. Mbeki's ANC won a landslide victory in the April 14 elections, picking up just under 70 percent of the vote and a whopping 279 seats in the 400-member National Assembly, its largest majority in a decade in power.

The DA obtained 50 seats of the National Assembly, coming in second, with 1,931,201 votes, or 12.37 percent of the total. More than 20 million South Africans were registered to vote in the third democratic elections since 1994, which have been dominated by the ruling ANC, the former top liberation movement turned political party. Former president Nelson Mandela became South Africa's first black president after the ANC won the country's first democratic elections, held on 27 April 1994, when millions of citizens, the majority of whom black, cast their votes for the first time. (by Chen Ming)

Source: Xinhua