UDM leader Bantu Holomisa wants a secret ballot because ANC members fear being victimised if they vote against the president.
The Constitutional Court is prepared to listen to the United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) urgent application for a secret ballot in Parliament and, as a result, next week’s motion of no confidence in President Jacob Zuma may be postponed.
“Earlier in the week I said we should not engage on the outcome of the Constitutional Court application and let the court do its job and it has done exactly that,” said a jubilant Bantu Holomisa, leader of the UDM.
“This is why I tweeted what I tweeted. This round was a success – we are now in the Constitutional Court.”
The motion of no confidence vote in Zuma is set to take place on April 18, which means the UDM faces a race against time.
“We have asked our lawyers to draft a letter to the speaker requesting that she postpone next week’s motion of no confidence vote. If she denies this request we will interdict her because we cannot have both processes running concurrently,” said Holomisa
The UDM leader filed the Constitutional Court application on Sunday to force Parliament to hold a secret vote for the no-confidence in President Jacob Zuma motion, arguing that ANC MP’s faced victimisation if they failed to toe the party line. He argues that parliamentarians owe their duty to the Constitution and not the ANC.
“This application arises from the fact that the speaker has refused UDM’s request to have the voting on these motions be conducted by way of a secret ballot”, stated Holomisa in the court papers.
Calls for a secret ballot come after opposition parties proposed to table a motion of no confidence against Zuma following his decision to reshuffle his Cabinet. Most significantly, this saw the axing of former finance minister Pravin Gordhan and his deputy Mcebisi Jonas.
As a result, citing “the anticipation of further political instability”, rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Fitch have downgraded South Africa to junk status.
A series of countrywide protests have followed the reshuffle and the downgrade.
Speaking to the Mail & Guardian, Holomisa highlighted key points that formed the basis of the UDM’s argument in the court papers:
A secret ballot is required to elect a president
The Constitution expressly requires that a secret ballot ought to be used when the president is elected. “It must follow that when the president is forced by the National Assembly to resign it must adopt the same procedure”, said Holomisa.
The absence of a secret ballot undermines the no-confidence motion
The motion of no confidence is no ordinary parliamentary decision. According to the court papers, the Constitutional Court has previously described a motion of no confidence “as the most important mechanism that may be employed by Parliament to hold the executive to account … without a secret ballot a motion of no confidence cannot properly fulfill its function as a tool to ensure maximum accountability of the president to National Assembly.”
MPs must be able to honour the Constitution freely
When it comes to a motion of no confidence, members of the National Assembly owe their first duty to the Constitution, not political parties. “A secret ballot enables them to carry out this duty without fear of reprisals and removals and enables them to stay to their prescribed oath,” the court papers noted.
“Ultimately, we want to deal with this culture of intimidation. We have lost a secretary general in the past due to intimation. We do not want this to be acceptable behaviour in South African politics. The African National Congress is known for intimidation and we want to deal with it decisively,” Holomisa said.