Hot seat: The UDM is asking the Constitutional Court to decide whether Baleka Mbete is right to say that she cannot authorise a secret ballot for a vote of no confidence against Jacob Zuma.
The United Democratic Movement’s (UDM) application to force National Assembly speaker Baleka Mbete to conduct the vote of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma by secret ballot will be heard on May 15, the Constitutional Court said.
The UDM filed an application with the court after Mbete said the current rules of Parliament do not permit a vote of no confidence by secret ballot. But she said she was not, in principle, opposed to a secret ballot.
In her affidavit, she asks the court to make a finding on the constitutionality of the parliamentary rules so they can be redrafted, if necessary.
In contrast, the UDM argues that since the president is elected by secret ballot, a vote of no confidence should be conducted in a similar manner.
The Constitution does not determine a voting procedure in this regard.
The vote of no confidence had been scheduled for April 18, but was postponed at opposition parties’ request, pending the court’s ruling on the matter. – News24