NRP leader, Vause Raw announces that his party is ready to give the President’s Council a chance

The leader of the New Republic Party (NRP), Vause Raw announced that his party was ready to give the President's Council a chance as a start on the road to a negotiated future. The history of the President's Council could be traced back to September 1980 when it was appointed with the task of recommending to the Government a constitutional blueprint. According to News 24 Archives, Raw rose to prominence in the now-defunct United Party (UP) as the party's fortunes declined after it was voted out of office in a landslide defeat by the National Party (NP) in 1948, which then introduced Apartheid policy. He became the founding member and the leader of the NRP, formed in 1977 after the break-up of the UP, which started splintering after 1959 when MPs, including veteran anti-apartheid fighter Helen Suzman.