Secret voting intrudes on openness, transparency – Parliament
Cape Town – A secret ballot in the vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma will intrude on the constitutional values of openness and transparency, the National Assembly says in court papers filed on Friday.
While Speaker Baleka Mbete was not in principle opposed to a secret ballot, there was no provision in the rules for one.
“In the event that the court finds the [National Assembly’s] rules to be invalid and unconstitutional to the extent that they do not provide for voting through a secret ballot [we ask] that the matter be remitted to the first respondent [Mbete] in order for her to reconsider her decision, or for the House to review and amend the rules,” the court papers reads.
They were filed in response to the UDM’s application to the Constitutional Court for it to rule on whether the vote against Zuma can take place by secret ballot.
Currently neither the Constitution nor the National Assembly’s rules make provision for a secret ballot in a vote of no confidence.