Jacob Zuma, the son of a housemaid and a police officer, was elected president of South Africa by lawmakers today, a decision that was expected given his African National Congress party’s large parliamentary majority.
Zuma won with 277 votes in the 400-member National Assembly, including 13 opposition lawmakers.
Ruling party members jeered and cat-called when members of the Congress of the People, an opposition party that broke away last year from the African National Congress, or ANC, were sworn in earlier.
They also booed when COPE nominated its own candidate, Mvume Dandala, for president. Dandala won 47 votes.
Zuma, dressed in a plain gray suit and navy patterned tie, licked his lips nervously then broke into a grin as the result was announced. The 67-year-old president-elect bowed and clapped as ANC lawmakers clamored to shake his hand, chanted his name and broke into song.
Under South Africa’s constitution, which dictates that the president must be elected from among members of the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament, Zuma was sworn in as a lawmaker for a few hours while the vote was taken, then resigned from the body.
He did not announce his Cabinet but said the executive would be working by the beginning of next week. Zuma is to be inaugurated Saturday in a ceremony to be attended by heads of state from around the world.
Source: LA Times
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