European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 21, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes saturday sop Lember 21, 1985 columns & comments Anthony Lewis White House s role in South Africa is irrelevant As Tiik Soith african drama has unfolded Over recent weeks one strik ing fact has been inc irrelevance of the United states government. In a period of the most fundamental crisis and change in the nut Kern history of South Africa Washington is playing no significant role. The pressure for change has come in the first place from inside. For More than a year against overwhelming Odds of Power. South african Blacks have maintained effective protest. The business Community of South Africa has concluded that the racist system will no longer work and must be transformed. , Banks have refused to renew Loans to a country in turmoil. After All the arguments disinvestment has in fact begun in the last four months nearly a tenth of the 52.3 billion in direct . Corporate investment in South Africa has been withdrawn. More and inure states and universities have decided to sell shares in companies that continue to do business there. All this has happened with no encouragement from the Reagan administration or indeed again its wishes. Nor is presi Dent Reagan s sudden forced conversion to the idea of economic sanctions Likely to make a great difference. The pressure for real change in South Africa will continue to come from economic and political realities internal and external. However there is something the United Stales can do usefully and perhaps even critically. That is to help begin a dialogue Between the White government of South Africa and the principal Black political group the african National Congress. The Anc was banned and its leaders imprisoned 25 years ago. It look to guerrilla activity. The Anc songs and banners that appear whenever Blacks can hold meetings show that the organization has not lost its legitimacy in the Community. Polls repeatedly indicate that Blacks Revere the imprisoned Leader of the Anc Nelson Mandela More than any other person the Only Way to Start calming the situation now is for the government to release Mandela unconditionally and begin talking with him and his Anc col leagues. The piecemeal reforms announced by president Botha bold sound ing but Uncertain in their actual Content Tom Wicker /6esfa#me/gsti/to that Ueth Fadik is cd Sac be " Are obviously not going to do is Why conservative South Africa businessmen met the leaders of the Anc in Ambia last week. They know that there has to be a transition to another kind of society. They know that the Best perhaps the Only Chance of an orderly transition is through talking with the Anc our positions Are very far apart Gavin relly chairman of the giant Anglo american corp., said after the meeting. But As South africans we Are All interested to create a More cohesive society Anil a More equitable one. The real common ground is that we Are concerned that the next generation should inherit a viable political and economic Botha s reaction to the meeting Wai depressing to Hopes for a Way out. He said the government would not talk to any organisation or person who promotes that from a government that has killed detained tortured and trans ported so Many of its own people. Botha s comment need not be the last word. All leaders of minority regimes Are naturally reluctant to negotiate with those who want a real change in Power. That happens Only when the alternative is seen to be worse. And that is where the Rea Gan administration could be useful in telling Pretoria that talking to the Anc is its least bad Choice. What Are the chances of effective persuasion from Washington the record does not give much ground for Hope. The Reagan administration itself has not had significant meetings with Anc leaders. . Diplomats have had occasional glancing encounters. When the Anc president Oliver Timbo was in the United states last Spring the state department did not ask him to come in fora talk. I vents of these last extraordinary weeks in South Africa have reminded us that governments do not do everything thai individuals and private economic interests can still make a great difference. The . Government with All it has in vested in Good relations with Pretoria u in a position to push it toward the difficult but essential step of talking with the african National Congress. C new York time two laudable ideas about How we pick presidents contrary to popular opinion not headlines bring us bad news or bad ideas or both. Two recent Politico serifs for example concerned Good ideas and one of to. I even constituted Good news. Down with i Iii. Two term limitation meeting with a of conservative slate legislators in Tamm. I Reagan advocated a constitutional inn Mem pm to repeal the 22nd Amend ment passed in i 5i As the Republican party s posthumous revenge against a Ranklin d. Roosevelt. This would allow s successors to seek More than two terms. Repeal of the 22nd amendment is a far better idea than Reagan s pet constitutional amendment to Force a balanced Federal budget. And he gave the Best reason for it that the people ought to have a right to decide who their leadership would indeed they should and numerous states that once limited their governors tenure have been moving in that direction. Reagan s View is personally disinterested since a re peal amendment even if it could be achieved before his second term expires in 1989, would be worded to exclude him from its terms just As the 22nd Amend ment specifically exempted president Truman who was in office when it was approved but would have been allowed to seek another term in i9s2 had he so chosen. Reagan s experience in his second term so far May be another reason he favors an end to the two term limitation. Many students of government and politics believe that restriction lends to make a second term president a lame Duck since he cannot run a third time and May therefore suffer a decline in his ability to Promise political rewards and or punishment while leading his party. Only president Dwight d. Eisenhower has served a full second term since the 22nd Amend ment was passed and inc extent to which he May have had lame Duck problems is still being disputed. But Reagan whose landslide Victory in 1984 led to perhaps exaggerated expectations for his second term clearly has been struggling this year. On the budget on lax Reform farm legislation de sense appropriations the my missile and Aid to the anti sandinista contras in Nicaragua. Reagan has been considerably less successful than he was in Ucaline with Congress in his first term. Now his hand is twin forced on sanctions against South Africa and Trad policy and the Senate Republican majority Leader Bob Dole and other erstwhile followers have pc nov differed with him on social Security voting rights and affirmative action. One reason for these conflicts and the president s More frequent setbacks clearly is the difference in elec Tion prospects Republican senators face a touch ficht to retain their narrow majority with 22 of them us for re election next year while Reagan is constitutionally prevented f. T running again. There arc o her reasons of course not least the decline in effectiveness of the while House staff since the departure of James a. Baker Iii to inc Treasury department but Reagan might Well be wishing right now that he could hold Ibe threat of running again Over some of those wayward republicans. Up with the regional primary Southern governors of both parties meeting in Miami i agreed to work with their legislators in an Effort to schedule All the Region s presidential primaries on the same Day in 1988. This is not Only a Good idea but Good news since Florida Georgia and Alabama took the first step in 1984, and the gubernatorial agreement May Well ensure a real regional primary next time. The governors aim is to increase Southern influence in presidential nominations if some candidate in either party can win five or six or More Southern primaries of the same Day it surely should accomplish their aim. But that the Stales arc acting cooperatively rather than under a congressional or party mandate that some might resist should mean a More effective Reform one in which each state can retain its own procedural rules and political identity. If the Southern states can make a regional primary Day work moreover they will provide a Model for other regions. And that suggests the possibility of a presiden tial primary Campaign reduced to perhaps four or five voting Days each of major significance a Welcome Prospect indeed. C new York time
