Press conference announcing Helen Zille as the new Federal Council Chairperson
The2019 Democratic Alliance Federal Council chairpersonship election was held on 20 October 2019 to elect the new Chairperson of the South African Federal Council of theDemocratic Alliance (DA), after the incumbentJames Selfe had announced his retirement in June 2019.[2]
The members of the party's Federal Council elected the new chairperson.[3] Helen Zille was elected to the position.[4]
In June 2019,James Selfe announced his retirement from the post of Chairperson of the Federal Council of the DA. He served in the post for almost two decades under the leadership ofTony Leon,Helen Zille andMmusi Maimane. The leadership position is similar to that of the role of Secretary-General of the rulingAfrican National Congress (ANC).[5][6][7]
In recent months, the DA had been plagued by infighting and disorder. The party unsuccessfully tried to grow its vote share in theMay 2019 national elections, only to be met with its first electoral decline in its history. This consequently caused leadership uncertainty within the party.[8][9]
The candidate nomination process closed on 4 October 2019 at around 17:00. Four candidates declared their intention to contest the election and were as follow:
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