Barry Streek
The postponement of floor-crossing legislation may be a blessing in disguise for the New National Party both the African National Congress and the Democratic Alliance say the NNP has most to lose by the proposed law.
The law, which provides for the lifting of anti-defection clauses for MPs and provincial legislature members when and for as long as the president decides, was tabled in Parliament this week. Apparently on the instructions of the ANC’s national working committee, it was then withdrawn this week so that a package of laws can be processed in February next year.
In addition to the law for MPs and MPLs, the package would include an amendment to the Constitution and to the Municipal Structures Act to allow council floor-crossing.
The official reason for the postponement was the cost of recalling Parliament to process only one aspect of the legislation. “The cost of recalling 400 people to Parliament, the cost of their air fares and the cost of calling the justice committee a week earlier would be enormous,” said justice committee chair Johnny de Lange.
However, concerns about the constitutional soundness of the Bill may also have been a factor. There is widespread unhappiness in opposition parties over the sweeping discretionary powers it gives President Thabo Mbeki, which could be invoked at the ANC’s convenience.
It is understood, also, that the negotiations between the NNP and ANC have hit snags, partly because of difficulties in defining a relationship that is neither an alliance nor a coalition. However, they are seen as unlikely to scupper a working agreement.
ANC Western Cape leader Ebrahim Rasool said at least five NNP and Democratic Party MPLs would cross to his party when anti-defection clauses are suspended, giving it overall control in the provincial legislature.
However, Rasool said the ANC was not considering this option because it wanted to bring the NNP’s constituency into the transformation process, and not simply dominate the legislature.
The DA’s chief whip, Douglas Gibson, said the only parties that would benefit from the lifting of the anti- defection clauses are the ANC and the DA. “They are queuing up to join us, although a few will be attracted to the ANC like moths to a flame,” he said.
Asked about the possibility of defections, the NNP’s Daryl Swanepoel said: “The levels of solidarity within the NNP at national and provincial level do not reflect that.”
Within the ANC there is some unhappiness that the proposed legislation has been delayed, as it is felt this has relieved pressure on the NNP to finalise an agreement with the ruling party in the shortest possible time.
“The NNP is almost negotiating as if it is the government in the Western Cape, and this will reduce the pressure on them to reach a deal,” one ANC MP said.
De Lange said the law tabled in his committee this week providing for “windows of opportunity” for floor-crossing for defined periods to be announced by the president would be considered in the same form next year.
Mbeki said in the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) that “changes, if any, must be carried out according to the constitution and the rule of law”.
Earlier, the acting premier of KwaZulu-Natal, Nyanga Ngubane, told the NCOP the legislation “came as a bolt from the blue, without prior consultations and negotiations. One sphere of government is changing the rules of operation of the other spheres without consulting them.
“This seems to have been done to accommodate specific political needs arising at this specific time between two specific parties pursuing a specific agenda in one specific province.”
Ngubane, of the Inkatha Freedom Party, said that the proposed legal changes were a matter of principle; “the anti-defection clause should be abolished forever”.