Baleka Mbete must go  

13 November 2014

The events of today's sitting of the House proves once and for all that Baleka Mbete can no longer be Speaker.

The DA calls for her immediate resignation for the following reasons:

1) She attempted to purposefully mislead Parliament today, claiming that the length of the Parliamentary agenda was an ‘unforeseen eventuality', when it was in fact discussed in great detail earlier today by all chief whips. 

2) The DA raised the issue of the length of the agenda for today's sitting and specifically requested that items be removed, but the ANC insisted on the long agenda.

3) The Speaker lost control of the House again, because she attempted to abuse her position to shield the ANC from motions in the House. 

4) She no longer commands the respect of the opposition, and is destroying the institution of Parliament. 

5) The chief whip of her own party repudiated her today by agreeing that her ruling on motions was clearly incorrect and irrational. 

6) She has disrespected Parliament and wilfully violated the rules of Parliament by refusing to summon the President to the House to answer questions.

She does not command the respect of the House, she manipulates the rules to suit the political agenda of Luthuli House and she undermines the rights of opposition MPs at every turn.

She must resign immediately or face another motion of no confidence. With her own party now conceding the irrationality of her rulings, she cannot possibly be expected to continue on.

We filibustered the House today to make the point that we will not allow Mbete and the ANC to undermine the rules of the House to suit their agenda. We want a constructive and functional Parliament, but we can't proceed until the Speaker and the ANC decides to play by the rules.

Statement issued by John Steenhuisen, DA Chief Whip, November 13 2014

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