Parliament moves quickly on rules for impeachment

A SUBCOMMITTEE of parliament’s rules committee is hoping to finalise the rules for the impeachment of President Jacob Zuma and their adoption by the House of Assembly by the end of March.

The subcommittee met yesterday to take forward the process to formulate the process rules.

It was prompted to action by a Constitutional Court ruling that it do this without delay.

The court gave judgment late last month in a case brought by the EFF‚ the UDM and COPE.

The three opposition parties had asked for an order declaring that the National Assembly had failed to put in place mechanisms and processes to hold the president accountable for failing to implement the remedial action in relation to the misuse of state resources on the upgrade of his Nkandla residence in KwaZulu-Natal.

The parties also sought an order compelling the assembly to convene a committee to investigate whether the president was guilty of any impeachable conduct.

In a majority judgment‚ the court ruled that a prerequisite for the removal of the president was the holding of a factual inquiry into whether there had been a serious violation of the Constitution or the law.

The judgment also found that parliamentary committees were not suited for this purpose.

The subcommittee said yesterday it would distribute draft proposals to the parties for consideration and would meet again later.

One of the main issues was how to prevent the factual inquiry being subverted.