In South Africa, official opposition plans constitutional amendment proposal limiting number of no-confidence motions

DA chief whip Siviwe Gwarube will introduce a draft constitutional amendment which plans to safeguard against instances where a motion of no confidence is brought against the president or premier on frivolous political grounds, but then shortly afterwards there are real and valid grounds for their removal. ”The draft bill, therefore, intends to limit the number of motions of no confidence to be brought against a president or premier to only one motion every 12 months from the date of the last motion,” reads the DA’s proposal. However, the official opposition also stated that as a safety net, the draft bill will propose that additional motions of no confidence may be brought in exceptional circumstances such as a violation of the Constitution or law, misconduct or the inability to perform the functions of the office. In its notice of intention to introduce a private member’s bill, the DA explained that it was hopeful that next year’s national and provincial elections are poised to be the first instance where the ANC will slip below 50% of the votes. “What this means for South Africa is that coalition governments will now be the ‘new norm’. Parties and independent candidates will have to come together and form workable coalitions for the good of South Africa,” the DA added. [...] The party said motions of no confidence are now being used as a political tool rather than for the mechanism it was originally intended, which is a process to remove a speaker or mayor from office due to them not fulfilling their duties adequately.
Read the full article here: IOL