SA waits with bated breath
THE National Assembly was supposed to have voted on President Jacob Zuma yesterday – expressing its confidence or otherwise on his continued tenure.
The Speaker agreed to postpone the debate to allow the UDM to appeal to the Constitutional Court for the Speaker to permit MPs to vote in secret.
It’s a highly contentious issue given the incredibly high stakes; the recall of the president and the fate of those who opt to defy the party protocols and instructions by the party whips in the House to actually register their lack of confidence in the man who not only rules the country but also their party.
It’s all very well to call on MPs to follow their consciences. But no party allows its members to vote contrary to the whips’ injunctions; none of the opposition parties do, unless MPs have applied beforehand for a free vote and been granted it, as happened on the vote to allow abortions or not.
On that occasion all MPs, including the ANC’s, could vote with their conscience.
The ANC is no different. It’s precisely why the whips exist; to ensure that party representatives do what they’re deployed to do. Indeed, if they do follow the diktats of their own conscience they get fired.
The opposition might be creating a precedent that could one day come back to haunt them.
On the other hand, Thabo Mbeki, recalled by Zuma and his party as president of the country – for far less than Zuma is accused of – contends that in terms of our Constitutional Court’s ruling on the powers of the public protector, when it found Zuma had failed to uphold, defend and respect the constitution, MPs have a broader duty to represent the person in the street and not merely follow the dictates of a party.
This is because the ruling party and its president may well be in violation of the constitution, as Zuma and the ANC clearly were on the public protector and Nkandla. Very, very wrong, in fact.
No doubt the final authority in our land will soon rule on whether MPs can vote in secret. The country waits with bated breath.