Progressive Federal Party
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The Progressive Federal Party (PFP) was a South African 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).
