9 January 2008

The IFP contends that by tampering with parliamentary questions the ANC Speaker of the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament has taken yet another step towards compromising the independence of that parliamentary forum and turning it into another obedient extension of the ruling party. 

“The IFP has long objected to the way Willies Mchunu runs the provincial Parliament. His approach is entirely political and arbitrary. Mchunu has turned and twisted every parliamentary rule to suit the political purposes of the ruling party. He is making it virtually impossible for the opposition parties to oversee the executive and hold it to account,” said Leader of the Offcial Opposition in KwaZulu Natal, Dr Lionel Mtshali. 

Having curtailed or entirely denied opportunities for the opposition parties to raise motions or issues for debate in the past, the IFP alleges that Mchunu has now taken on inconvenient parliamentary questions which he is interpreting and amending to make it easier for the government to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. “On the surface, Mchunu’s ‘administrative’ interference with parliamentary questions may conform to the letter of parliamentary rules but never to the spirit of parliamentary independence,” said Dr Mtshali. 

The IFP has previously criticised not only Mchunu’s costly, wasteful and self-serving initiatives such as Taking Parliament to the People but also his explicitly political management of the legislative proceedings. “Mchunu clearly forgets that, historically, Parliament’s role is not to spend money but prevent the government from spending it unproductively,” said Dr Mtshali. 

The IFP notes that anyone who has witnessed a single sitting of the KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament must be struck by the Speaker’s subservience to the ruling party and his complete lack of grace when dealing with the opposition. “We on the opposition benches wish to remind Mchunu that his role as Speaker in the context of Parliament’s oversight role should be one of impartial facilitator rather than of deliberate moderator,” said Dr Mtshali. 

Contact: Dr Lionel Mtshali, 083 256 4902