MPs could be fired for wayward behaviour
Spira Tlhankane | Monday May 27, 2024 08:18
Currently, Parliament does not have the power to remove a sitting MP from office.
State President Minister Kabo Morwaeng presented the Constitution (amendment) bill, 2024 for a second reading this week, and in the draft bill, there is a proposal to have section 68 of the Constitution to be amended by inserting immediately after subsection one a new subsection which says that legislators will be fired for misbehaviour.
“An Elected Member or a Specially Elected Member of the National Assembly may be removed from office for misbehaviour in such a manner as may be prescribed in the rules of procedure of the Assembly,” reads the proposed new subsection. If amended it means that MPs could be fired for misdemeanour, a trait that is common with some lawmakers during Parliament proceedings. Standing order 58 of the National Assembly touches on the behaviour of members in the house during a sitting and if the suggested amendment is approved MPs could be fired for things such as entering or leaving the House without decorum.
MPs could also be fired for crossing the aisle of the House and making unseemly interruption or passing in front of a Member who is speaking. “Members shall not read newspapers, books, letters or other documents except such matter therein as may be directly connected with the business of the Assembly.
A Member shall address the House from the seat allocated to him. No Member shall stand or sit with his or her back towards the Speaker or Chair. A Member shall not distribute any literature, questionnaire, pamphlet, press notes, leaflets etc which are not connected with the business under discussion in the House. No Member shall use or operate a mobile phone or similar device or apparatus in a manner that interrupts or interferes with the business of the House. No Member shall bring into the House any firearm or dangerous items. All Members shall conduct themselves with appropriate decorum, and in a manner that upholds the image, dignity and standing of the House,” read some of the standing orders which could lead to an MP being booted out if not obeyed.
During debates of the bill this week in the National Assembly, Francistown South MP Wynter Mmolotsi expressed disgust of the proposed amendment, saying that it is meant to disrespect wishes of the voters who had voted for an MP into Parliament. “I would get voted by 6000 people in Francistown and the law allows a certain member to recommend my removal from office. One member is not bigger than the people who had voted me into office and I should not be removed from office because a certain individual doesn’t like me,” Mmolotsi indicated.
He said it is disgraceful for the current Parliament to bring in a law which will undo what the voters have done during an election. Mmolotsi emphasised that only voters have the right to remove him from his position and it can only be done through an election not a draconian law. He pointed out that the law is targeting to remove opposition MPs because of their low numbers in the house. “If this law passes Batswana should know that the people they had voted for are not protected. They should stand up and condemn this dictatorial law,” he said. Mmolotsi added that even if the law passes and Parliament somehow manages to remove him, he will contest and win repeatedly.
Tati West’s Simon Moabi, a BDP MP said he has a problem with the proposed law because any MP could pass a motion of no confidence to have him removed from office. “I would be here to represent the interests of my constituents in parliament but a differing view in the house could lead to my removal from office and that would be unfair to the people of Tati West,” he said. Moabi expressed that MPs should not take such decisions on behalf of 61 constituencies. “I don’t what will qualify as misbehaviour so we should investigate this further before making it into a law,” he said.
Palapye legislator Onneetse Ramogapi said any utterance in Parliament could be politically fatal for MPs if the law passes. “This law should be further scrutinised because it is very dangerous”. Nata-Gweta MP Polson Magaga suggested that instead of bringing in the new law, issues of behaviour should be referred to MPs’ individual parties instead of giving Parliament the power to fire legislators. Currently, MPs can only be thrown out of Parliament and suspended from the House proceedings for some time but can never be removed from office. According to standing order 60.2, the Speaker shall order a Member whose conduct is grossly disorderly to withdraw immediately from the Chamber for the remainder of that day’s sitting, and may direct such steps to be taken as are required to ensure compliance with this order.
There is an occasion where the Speaker deems that throwing out an MP is inadequate because the latter had disregarded the authority of the Chair or contravened the rules of order in the Assembly by persistently and wilfully obstructing. As a consequence the Speaker names the offending MP and the former calls upon any of the Whips there and then present in the House to move, that the legislator be suspended from the services of the National Assembly.
“If any Member is suspended under this Standing Order, his or her suspension on the first occasion in any session shall continue for one week, on the second occasion for a fortnight, and on the third or any subsequent occasion for one month,” reads standing order 60.5. Currently if a member is suspended, he or she can write an expression of regret to the Speaker, who then lays it before the Assembly, where an MP is eventually re-admitted.