The debate in the National Assembly on the Democratic Alliance’s motion calling for President Jacob Zuma to be impeached got off to a rowdy start with opposition parties calling for the Speaker‚ Baleka Mbete‚ to step down.
The first one to rise on a point of order was the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu who pointed out that the Constitutional Court had found that the National Assembly had violated the Constitution.
“You don’t deserve to be in that seat because you are not supposed to be sitting here.
“Will you please step down. Step down please‚” Shivambu said.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen also rose on a point of order to ask Mbete to recuse herself saying she was a respondent in the Constitutional Court hearing and was therefore a “partner in crime“.
He asked that the Deputy Speaker preside over the debate.
EFF leader Julius Malema then rose and repeated the call for Mbete to recuse herself from the debate.
“We’re discussing Zuma now. We can’t discuss Zuma with you presiding over this matter. Letter Deputy Speaker sit there.
“You are not qualified to sit where you are. The best thing is to recuse yourself.”
Congress of the People Party Terror Lekota also added his voice to the chorus of calls.
The ANC’s Jackson Mthembu argued that the Constitutional Court ruling was against the National Assembly‚ not the Speaker.|
Mbete responded to the calls by saying that nothing in the Constitution or the rules of Parliament required that she recuse herself. She proposed that the House vote on whether she should recuse herself.
More than 20 minutes into proceedings the actual impeachment debate had still not got under way.
Zuma impeachment debates begins with calls for Mbete to recuse herself
The first one to rise on a point of order was the EFF’s Floyd Shivambu who pointed out that the Constitutional Court had found that the National Assembly had violated the Constitution.
“You don’t deserve to be in that seat because you are not supposed to be sitting here.
“Will you please step down. Step down please‚” Shivambu said.
DA chief whip John Steenhuisen also rose on a point of order to ask Mbete to recuse herself saying she was a respondent in the Constitutional Court hearing and was therefore a “partner in crime“.
He asked that the Deputy Speaker preside over the debate.
EFF leader Julius Malema then rose and repeated the call for Mbete to recuse herself from the debate.
“We’re discussing Zuma now. We can’t discuss Zuma with you presiding over this matter. Letter Deputy Speaker sit there.
“You are not qualified to sit where you are. The best thing is to recuse yourself.”
Congress of the People Party Terror Lekota also added his voice to the chorus of calls.
The ANC’s Jackson Mthembu argued that the Constitutional Court ruling was against the National Assembly‚ not the Speaker.|
Mbete responded to the calls by saying that nothing in the Constitution or the rules of Parliament required that she recuse herself. She proposed that the House vote on whether she should recuse herself.
More than 20 minutes into proceedings the actual impeachment debate had still not got under way.
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