Newly-formed Cope formally launches its 2009 election campaign on Tuesday at a Bloemfontein rally which sees it go head-to-head with the ANC.

Though Cope leader Terror Lekota has been at pains to stress that Cope will not be bussing in converts en masse, attendance will inevitably be compared with an ANC event to be addressed by Jacob Zuma on the other side of town.

Cope finishes its three-day founding conference, held at the University of the Free State, on Tuesday morning, ahead of the rally.

Before the close, the 4000-odd delegates are expected to choose the leadership that will see the party through the 2009 polls and beyond.

Lekota, who has been Cope's interim chairman, was expected to take on the position of president, which would put him at the head of the party.

Sapa