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| defunct liberal political parties | |
| south africa 1977 | |
| former political parties in south africa | |
| organizations associated with apartheid | |
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The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) was a South Africa n Political Party formed in 1977 . It advocated power-sharing in South Africa through a Federal Constitution , in place of Apartheid . Its leader was Colin Eglin , who was later succeeded by Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert and then Zach De Beer , but its best known parliamentarian was Helen Suzman , who was for many years the only member of the whites-only parliament to speak out against the Apartheid regime's abuses. It drew support mainly from liberal English-speaking Whites , as owing to South Africa's apartheid laws, its membership was limited to the country's whites. The PFP was derided by right-wing whites, who claimed its initials stood for 'Packing for Perth', on account of the many white liberal supporters of the 'Progs', who were emigrating to Australia . It was ousted as the official opposition by the far-right Conservative Party in the whites-only parliamentary elections held on May 6 1987 . This electoral blow led many of the PFP's leaders to question the value of participating in the whites-only parliament, and some of its MPs left to form the New Democratic Movement (NDM). In 1989 , the PFP and NDM merged with another small white reformist party, the Independent Party (IP), to form the Democratic Party (DP). SEE ALSO
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