A step too far
BUOYED by the support they received from ANC MPs who voted for the removal of President Jacob Zuma in Parliament on Tuesday night, the DA is now taking its campaign a step further.
DA leader Mmusi Maimane told a press briefing that the party would table a motion to dissolve Parliament and to hold early national elections.
Yesterday the party decided against the tabling of the motion, and opted, instead, to submit a request in writing to the Speaker’s Office.
The DA’s attempt to oust Zuma through the failed vote of no confidence received overwhelming support from opposition parties and civil society.
However, the same cannot be said about the party’s latest attempt to remove the ANC from power.
Maimane’s latest stunt vindicates the ANC’s assertion that opposition parties are trying to use the no confidence vote against Zuma to affect regime change.
It also goes against what Maimane has been saying, that the no confidence vote is not an attempt to remove the ANC from power, but to put an end to Zuma’s disastrous term.
The governing party was voted in by 11 million people, and calling for a motion to dissolve Parliament is a desperate attempt by the DA to subvert democracy.
Maimane does not think so.
For him and his party something has got to give.
Speaking yesterday, Maimane said: “Jacob Zuma survived yet again, protected by the party that elected him twice and shielded him from accountability countless times. South Africa now needs a new beginning.”
He went on to say: “We believe the voters should now have the chance to express their opinion about the conduct of the ANC in defending Jacob Zuma.
“In short, we believe that Parliament should be dissolved so that the country can hold an early election.”
If the DA is an organisation of democrats, Maimane must respect the democratic will of the South African people.
He would be well advised to continue with the DA strategy of exposing the shortcomings of the ANC, and hope that voters will heed the message in 2019.
Dissolving Parliament is definitely not the way to go.