UDM leaves secret ballot up to courts

THE UDM has stuck to its guns in the Constitutional Court that a secret ballot was needed to remove President Jacob Zuma from office following his controversial reshuffling of the cabinet.

UDM leader Bantu Holomisa said in his final heads of argument, filed in the Constitutional Court yesterday, that Zuma’s decision to axe finance minister Pravin Gordhan led to a financial crisis in South Africa.

He said Zuma’s decision has also led to deep divisions in the ANC, with ANC MPs also facing threats of being expelled from the party if they voted against Zuma in an open ballot.

He said it was for the court to decide on the secret ballot and not Parliament.

“The UDM’s primary contention is that the constitution requires a secret ballot for noconfidence motions. Whether this is so is an issue only the courts can determine; not the National Assembly or its rules committee,” said Holomisa.

He said in general elections across the world a secret ballot was used to prevent electoral fraud and intimidation.

“But the need for a secret ballot is not only present when it is mem- bers of the public who are voting.

Rather, it is present also when members of a legislative assembly vote on certain issues in circumstances where a similar risk of electoral fraud or voter intimidation arises,” said Holomisa.

However, Speaker Baleka Mbete contended that she did not have power to authorise the use of a secret ballot in Parliament. Mbete said if courts found the decision to prevent a secret ballot invalid, unlawful or unconstitutional, the matter must be referred back to Parliament for reconsideration.

“As stated above and confirmed by the applicant (the UDM) itself, the National Assembly has previously considered, debated and voted on the question whether or not a secret ballot should be used for motions of no confidence.

“The collective majority of the National Assembly rejected the proposal. “Accordingly, the rules do not make provision for the vote of a secret ballot be through a secret ballot.”

She said she was bound to execute her duties in line with the constitution and Rules of the National Assembly.

She said Holomisa had not exhausted inter nal processes in Parliament, where the rules committee can deal with these matters, as the rules of Parliament provide clear guidelines on what must happen in matters related to voting and other practices.

The matter could be referred back to Parliament for reconsideration, said Mbete.