Zille undermines authority of deputy speaker - ANC WCape Pierre Uys 03 December 2014 Pierre Uys says Premier twice refused to withdraw a reference to ‘deliberate distortion (Dec 2) ANC protests Zilles intolerance and abuse The ANC Western Cape today walked out of the Western Cape provincial legislature in protest of premier Helen Zilles flagrant undermining of the authority of the deputy speaker Piet Pretorius and her refusal to withdraw clear unparliamentary allegations. The sitting got unruly when Pretorius twice instructed Zille to withdraw a reference to ‘deliberate distortion which is deemed unparliamentary and she bluntly refused to abide by the ruling. At one stage she wanted to leave the meeting. ANC Western Cape chief whip Pierre Uys says: The ANC left the sitting of the legislature after Pretorius gave a different ruling of deferment to accommodate Zille. He will make known his new ruling on Wednesday morning. The ANC says this incident is not the first where Pretorius - one of the most experienced people in the legislature who served both as secretary (chief official and advisor of the legislature) and as a presiding officer - changed his ruling. On the other hand it is clear that the DA scandalously interferes in the ruling and independence of the presiding officer. This is the same DA that demands of the speaker of the National Assembly to be independent, but here in the Western Cape legislature Zille as head of the provincial government does something no ANC head of government ever did at national level! She shouts the presiding officer down. What Zille did is wrong, her abuse of the legislature and her conduct is uncalled for. She acts like she wants to be the party leader and the speaker too. She not only undermines the authority of the presiding officer, but also that of our democracy, the constitution, our rules and orders are placed in jeopardy! The ANC will closely watch what Pretorius is going to do in the morning. The whole episode is totally unacceptable. Under Zille the level of debate deteriorates, the ANC Western Cape added. Statement issued by ANC Western Cape Chief Whip, Pierre Uys, December 2 2014
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 14:01:07 +0000
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