Former South African President F.W. de Klerk today urged his one-time apartheid party to back a coalition with the African National Congress, saying it was the only way to heal racial divisions.
Speaking on the 14th anniversary of an historic speech in which he effectively ended white rule, Mr de Klerk said the New National Party (NNP) must work with South Africa's black leaders in this year's general elections.
"It was through negotiations that we in this country averted a catastrophe and it will only be through negotiation and dialogue that we will develop a communal vision of transformation," Mr de Klerk said, adding that an ANC-NNP coalition had his "full and enthusiastic support".
"Without negotiation, South Africa could fall back on to the road of polarisation and renewed racial conflict."
The speech marked Mr de Klerk's first explicit endorsement of the cooperation pact formed in 2001 between the ANC and the NNP, which succeeded his own National Party in 1997.