In the past, the speaker of parliament, Baleka Mbete, has consistently shown that her loyalties lie with the ANC and for that reason the FF Plus does not have much hope for her allowing a secret ballot in which president Jacob Zuma may be oust, says dr. Pieter Groenewald, leader of the FF Plus.
Dr. Groenewald says that the fact that Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng conveyed important information regarding her responsibilities to Mbete is nevertheless informative as he told her that she has to ensure that the interests of the ANC are ‘balanced’ with those of the voters.
“It is also important that the ANC members of parliament take note of the Chief Justice’s statement that they pledged allegiance to the Constitution and their office and not to the ANC. So therefore, they need to vote in accordance with their conscience, irrespective of whether it is an open or secret ballot.
“Judge Mogoeng said that a general election is the strongest weapon in the hands of the public with which they can keep their government accountable.
“In response to the judgment, the secretary general of the ANC, Gwede Mantashe, and the chief whip of the ANC, Jackson Mtembu, said that they don’t care if a secret ballot takes place and that the members of the ANC will not support the motion of no confidence.
“If they are so sure of themselves then the secret ballot must be allowed so that we can put Mantashe en Mtembu’s statements to the test.
“Should the speaker and the ANC members of parliament act without honour and conscience, like so many times before, in order to protect the president again, then the FF Plus truly hopes that the public will take the words of the Chief Justice to heart and punish the corrupt ANC at the polls,” says dr. Groenewald.
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