#NoConfidence: Mbete continues to put the ANC before Parliament
The DA notes with concern comments made by Speaker of the National Assembly, Baleka Mbete, relating to the upcoming Vote of No Confidence in President Jacob Zuma.
Speaking to media at the ANC’s National Policy Conference 2017, Mbete responded to a question about the secret ballot by urging individual MPs to toe the party line.
She is quoted as saying that: “In as far as the question of secret or not secret [ballot], I think individuals can think whichever way they want to, but whereas a Member who was sent to Parliament by a political party, you owe it to that party to take a position as guided by it.”
Mbete’s comments show that, when faced with the inherent conflict of her role as Chairperson of the ANC and NA Speaker, she does not hesitate to put party before Parliament.
It is alarming that Mbete feels free to speak so candidly about the “obligations” of ANC MPs precisely when she is called upon to apply her mind and decide on the matter of the secret ballot.