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President of the National Assembly Thandi Modise.
- President Thandi Modise rejected the ATM’s request that the motion of no confidence to President Cyril Ramaphosa be voted on by secret ballot.
- The ATM will challenge the decision in court.
- Modise stressed the importance of Parliament doing its activities outdoors.
As public representatives, parliamentarians should not act under a veil of secrecy, Parliament said after National Assembly Speaker Thandi Modise rejected the ATM’s request to reconsider that Thursday’s motion of no confidence against President Cyril Ramaphosa will vote secretly.
In response, the ATM has indicated that it will go to court.
Parliamentary spokesman Moloto Mothapo said that Parliament, so far, is not aware of any judicial proceedings and will deal with it once it starts.
The ATM first filed the motion with Modise in February and requested a secret ballot.
READ | ATM requests legal assistance to force secret ballot in Ramaphosa’s motion of no confidence
Last week, the Secretary of Parliament, Masibulelo Xaso, told the Programming Committee of the National Assembly that Modise approved the motion of no confidence in the ATM and suggested that it be included in the National Assembly program for Thursday’s plenary session.
Parliament also announced that Modise rejected the ATM’s request for a secret ballot.
Secret vote
On Friday, the ATM wrote to Modise asking him to reconsider his decision on the secret ballot.
“ATM is of the firm opinion that the conditions empowering the President to exercise her discretion for secret voting are abundant. Without being exhaustive, it is a public record that at least two members of the opposition party were removed from Parliament for their own party because they were found to be beneficiaries of CR17 campaign funds, “wrote ATM leader Vuyolwethu Zungula.
“This alone is reason enough to corroborate a legitimate suspicion that perhaps more Members of Parliament are recipients of the CR17 Campaign Funds and therefore might have difficulty voting against President Ramaphosa after personally benefiting and, in fact, perhaps risking their lives and their livelihoods. This problem is very serious in this unfortunate climate of political assassinations and purges. “
He also referred to the battles between factions in the ANC, saying that some in the ANC no longer support Ramaphosa.
“The President, therefore, acting impartially with due consideration of some of the examples mentioned above has to ensure that the voting process is credible and reflects the constitutional obligations of members of Parliament. There is no reason to carry out a open electoral process when the environment is flooded with the level of toxicity that is out there for all to see. “
On Monday, lawyers for the ATM also wrote Modise with a request for reconsideration.
On Tuesday, Mothapo announced in a statement that Modise had rejected the request, saying that the Constitution empowers the President to prescribe how voting can be conducted on a vote of no confidence to the president, considering the prevailing pertinent factors.
“Section 1 (d) of the Constitution establishes openness as a fundamental principle of our democracy and the Constitution obliges the National Assembly to carry out its tasks in an open and transparent manner. Therefore, when making a decision, the President must consider the constitutional imperatives of transparency, openness and public participation, on the one hand, and guarantee that parliamentarians can exercise their functions without intimidation or difficulties, on the other hand, “the statement read.
Intimidation
In 2017, the Constitutional Court indicated that a secret vote is necessary, where the prevailing environment is intoxicated or highly charged.
“The ATM has offered no evidence of a highly charged atmosphere, intimidation of any member, or any demonstrable evidence of threats to the lives of members and their families, which may justify a secret ballot.
READ ALSO | The ATM motion of no confidence in Ramaphosa will be voted next week on an open ballot
“As public representatives of the electorate, members are not always supposed to act under a veil of secrecy. Considerations of transparency and openness sometimes demand a demonstration, as the Constitutional Court has stated, of ‘courage and determination to courageously promote the best The interests of the members of the NA represent, regardless of the consequences, including the risk of dismissal for failure to comply with the party’s instructions.
“The Spokesperson was also aware that the current virtual or hybrid sessions of the National Assembly, which are part of the institutional measures to combat the spread of Covid-19, would in any case make the practical aspects of a secret ballot very challenging. . “
On Tuesday, ATM spokesperson Sibusiso Mncwabe confirmed that the party had received a letter from Modise to deny their request.
“We have instructed our attorneys to urgently take the matter to court because we believe their denials are not based on valid legal arguments,” he said.
“We will not accept what you are telling us.”
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