Inkatha Freedom Party Statement By:
MS SYBIL SEATON MP
IFP DEPUTY CHIEF WHIP

6 September 2007

We would like to set the record straight regarding a statement made by Mr Corné Mulder MP and the Freedom Front Plus about floor-crossing. 

In a press statement they claimed to have been first party to have opposed floor-crossing. As they put it, they were the lone voice in the desert against floor-crossing when it was first proposed by the former DP and the NNP in 2002. 

But in fact, it was the Inkatha Freedom Party who first spoke out against floor-crossing. The IFP was the first one to label it undemocratic, immoral and unethical. 

We are also the party who submitted a Private Members Bill to Parliament on the 29 March 2006, calling for the scrapping of Floor Crossing Legislation. 

The IFP would like to reiterate that the current floor-crossing legislation contradicts the objectives of the Constitution which provides for a citizen's Constitutional right to vote for a political party and to be represented in Parliament in accordance with the votes cast. 

Voters vote for political parties and not for individuals, so in essence, when politicians carry seats over to the other party without the consent of the voters, they - the politicians - disregard the wishes of the voters. 

Floor-crossing is undemocratic and should in fact be called "seat stealing". 

FOR MORE INFORMATION:
Ms Sybil Seaton MP: 083 412 0075
Liezl van der Merwe: 083 611 7470