DA no longer recognises Mbete as Speaker

LazyLion

LazyLion

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Events in Parliament yesterday represent a turning point for our democracy and has fundamentally changed the DA’s approach to Parliament. Baleka Mbete lost control of the House and destroyed her credibility as the Speaker. Accordingly, we will cease to recognise her authority as Speaker.

Every time she presides over the House, the DA will only send its chief whip, deputy chief whip and those members participating in debates.

President Zuma and Baleka Mbete have taken us to the verge of a Constitutional crisis. Parliament cannot effectively scrutinise the actions of the executive. They have consistently manipulated and undermined the rules of the House to protect President Zuma from his Constitutional obligation to account to the people of South Africa.

The facts are as follows:
– President Zuma refuses to come to Parliament to answer questions, despite rule 111 (1)(a) which states that the President must answer questions in the House once per term and despite his constitutional obligation to do so (section 55).

Baleka Mbete has consistently favoured the ANC over opposition MPs and is clearly executing Luthuli House’s agenda. We have said from the start that her position as the Chairperson of the ANC NEC is a clear conflict of interest. She abused her position in the Chair yesterday by manipulating the purpose of rule 2 to shut down the opposition and shield the ANC.
he Speaker has sanctioned the use of riot police inside Parliament to assault opposition MPs. It must be remembered that the SAPS are a branch of State. Their presence in Parliament is therefore a breach of the separation of powers and the sanctity of the National Assembly.
ANC MPs have become increasingly aggressive. Minister Lindiwe Zulu for example was caught on video physically attacking an opposition MP. She also untruthfully denied it in the House.

We have a Constitutional duty to scrutinise and oversee executive action. But we can only do this in the context of a functional and constructive Parliament.

I have written to the leader of government business, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, demanding that he take steps to restore order in the House. Specifically we demand that:

* An urgent meeting be held between the Deputy President, myself and the Chief Whip of the official opposition to discuss the abuse of the Parliament by the ANC.
* At its next sitting, that he supports the passing of a motion of no confidence in the Speaker, and that Parliament elects a new Speaker.
* At its next sitting, the he supports the election of a member of the opposition as one of the presiding officers to restore objectivity in the position.
* That the use of riot police in the chamber be outlawed that he undertakes to insure that riot police never again be allowed into the chamber. We call for an IPID inquiry into the use of riot police in Parliament on 21 August and 13 November 2014.

The ANC lost the debate yesterday and responded with violence. Many observers are left wondering what will happen when the ANC one day loses an election.

The ANC leadership in Parliament has failed in its duty to ensure that the institution of Parliament is respected by the executive and members alike. It is now incumbent on the leader of government business to work with us to restore the credibility of Parliament.
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http://www.da.org.za/2014/11/da-longer-recognises-mbete-speaker/
 
DA said:
The ANC lost the debate yesterday and responded with violence. Many observers are left wondering what will happen when the ANC one day loses an election.
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Chilling words, yet given the track record of African countries, the answer is sadly not difficult to predict.
 
DA WILL NOT RECOGNISE MBETE: MAIMANE

The DA will no longer recognise National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete, the party's parliamentary leader Mmusi Maimane said on Friday.

Briefing the media at Parliament the morning after a raucous sitting of the House culminated in fisticuffs and scuffles, he said what happened had prompted a "fundamental change" in the Democratic Alliance's approach to the institution.

"[Speaker] Baleka Mbete lost control of the House and destroyed her credibility as Speaker. Accordingly, we will cease to recognise her authority as Speaker."

Every time Mbete presided over the House, "the DA will send only its Chief Whip, its deputy Chief Whip, and those members participating in the debate itself", he said.


Source : Sapa /rod/cls/jje
Date : 14 Nov 2014 12:30
 
I'm not too clued up on how this works. If all opposition parties boycott Parliament, doesn't it mean the ANC will then have even less difficulty pushing things through? How does it benefit?
 
evilstebunny said:
Africa doesn't understand, nor want real democracy..
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100%
Africa is still stagnant and hidebound by thousands of years of superstition/culture which vested supremacy in the local chief who always had power of life and death over his ignorant followers.
 
OrbitalDawn said:
I don't understand how you come to this conclusion based on this debacle?

Check this link out that joelus posted:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/20-notorious-fights-inside-parliaments-of-the-world/452063-79.html
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Kasidiaris threw a glass of water at a female leftist politician and slapped another one in the face on live television on Thursday, causing a political uproar and leading a prosecutor to seek his arrest.
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:eek: the horror :D

I wonder if the police were called in on any of those fights?
 
nightjar said:
100%
Africa is still stagnant and hidebound by thousands of years of superstition/culture which vested supremacy in the local chief who always had power of life and death over his ignorant followers.
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Source?
 
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joelus said:
Source?

You are the only ignorant one here
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The ANC's 62% majority speaks otherwise. There is something wrong with the electorate when a party with a leader who has multiple charges of corruption against him get a majority.

Japanese ministers resign when there are allegations of corruption. We have to drag our pigs to court to get them just to own up (SABC chairwomen for example).

There is a culture of corruption in our government and the electorate supports it.
 
konfab said:
The ANC's 62% majority speaks otherwise. There is something wrong with the electorate when a party with a leader who has multiple charges of corruption against him get a majority.

Japanese ministers resign when there are allegations of corruption. We have to drag our pigs to court to get them just to own up (SABC chairwomen for example).

There is a culture of corruption in our government and the electorate supports it.
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Really? So to you modern government that is corrupt (as found all over the world) is now evidence of thousands of years of superstition/culture which vested supremacy in the local chief who always had power of life and death over his ignorant followers.
Ignorant...
 
konfab said:
The ANC's 62% majority speaks otherwise. There is something wrong with the electorate when a party with a leader who has multiple charges of corruption against him get a majority.

Japanese ministers resign when there are allegations of corruption. We have to drag our pigs to court to get them just to own up (SABC chairwomen for example).

There is a culture of corruption in our government and the electorate supports it.
Click to expand...

Political corruption has been a feature of Japan's political system since World War II. The period after World War II reformed and democratized Japanese politics in many ways, for example, the 1947 constitution placed the Japanese Diet at the center of the formal political system and in theory removed important powers from the bureaucracy. However, the movement of power to the Japanese Diet probably served in part to foster corruption in post-war politics since it created a group of policy-makers who would be subject to lobbying by private sector interests and dependent on those interests to fund the expensive political activities necessary to stay in office. At the present time, corruption in Japanese electoral politics involves violations of campaign finance laws and related bribery and tax laws. Further, big business has been a source of campaign finance as long as political parties have existed in Japan.

Political corruption in Japan is a particularly interesting case because of what it suggests about law as a sanction in a non-western context. The criminal justice system in Japan is reluctant to rely on formal sanctions, and companies engaged in illegal behavior are rarely punished severely. The reluctance of the criminal justice system to enforce corruption laws also makes it difficult to assess the extent of political crime. The likelihood of going to jail for political corruption is so low that imprisonment does serve as a sufficient deterrent when compared to the expected benefits of political corruption. In addition, Japanese citizens tend to tolerate corruption by elected officials because these officials share the benefits of their illegal behavior with constituents.
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http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/japan/politics-corruption.htm
 
The ANC lost the debate yesterday and responded with violence. Many observers are left wondering what will happen when the ANC one day loses an election.
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A few years ago that statement would have you immediately labeled a racist.
 
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I'm somewhat saddened we aren't more like Taiwan's parliament. Those guys know how to deal with each other.
 
OrbitalDawn said:
I don't understand how you come to this conclusion based on this debacle?

Check this link out that joelus posted:

http://ibnlive.in.com/news/20-notorious-fights-inside-parliaments-of-the-world/452063-79.html
Click to expand...

So we will not even make it into the top 50...there should be more effort put into our effort:D.....democracy at work, may not be pretty at times, and getting rather heated of late...but more importantly, with the legislature now becoming a JZ fest with each session, nothing can get done without corrupt JZ being highlighted...the ruling party, is being pushed to a tipping point...with the NUMSA break...its turning into a potential perfect storm...someone is either going to be pushed to resign, or we are really in the crap.
 
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