Expulsion of DA member: Minister of Justice undermines the House
The Democratic Alliance is concerned by the decision of the Speaker to rule that the question posed by the DA's Shadow Defence Minister, David Maynier MP, should not be answered by the Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, Jeff Radebe, following Mr Maynier's expulsion from the House this afternoon.
While the DA respects the discretion of the Speaker of the National Assembly (NA) to rule that a member's conduct is unparliamentary, the question posed by Mr Maynier was raised in the House and it should have been answered. The purported unparliamentary aspect of the question did not render the entire question out of order.
Moreover, on a point of order, I raised rule 107 (7) of the NA Rules, which provides that "a member may give notice or take charge of a question on behalf of an absent member if the member has been authorized to do so by the absent member".
The Speaker completely ignored this rule, which effectively provides that the question could have been raised by myself, and answered by the Minister.
The decision by Minister Radebe to avoid answering the question, and the support provided by the Speaker, can therefore be seen as nothing more than a clear attempt to avoid telling South Africans the truth about South Africa's military relationship with Muammar Gaddafi - one of the most brutal dictators in the world.
Mr Maynier's question therefore remains: did South Africa sell sniper riffles and several thousand rounds of ammunition to Libya?
The Minister's evident silence is telling.
The Speaker's decision to exempt the Minister from answering the question seriously undermines the use of questions by Members of Parliament, and further weakens the institution's ability to hold the executive to account.
Fortunately, Mr Maynier and the rest of the DA's caucus shall continue to work tirelessly to ensure that Parliament holds the executive to account, as is required by our constitution and our democratic dispensation, in the face of all opposition, no matter what the source.
Statement issued by Ian Davidson MP, DA Chief Whip, March 23 2011
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