The Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday it would again write to National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete to request that she reconsider her decision to turn down a request for a special sitting of Parliament to debate the crisis in Zimbabwe.
DA chief whip Ian Davidson said his party believed that President Thabo Mbeki’s policy on Zimbabwe had been a failure and given that the situation was worsening, there was an urgent need for the representatives of the people to be given the opportunity to debate the issue.
Said Davidson: ”In her reply to my initial request, the speaker indicated that South Africa’s hosting the 118th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union [IPU] would make it logistically impossible to convene Parliament.
”However, given that the IPU Assembly has now concluded its work, this is no longer a problem, and more than ever there remains a great need for Parliament to express itself on this issue, which is of profound domestic and international importance.” — Sapa