Speak to us Mr President
This is such a grave charge that one should be careful to make it. In the past President Mbeki has always formally shown great respect for the Constitution and the law and one should not assume that he has abused his power. If it were to be true it would constitute a grave constitutional crisis because the President would have interfered with the working of the prosecuting authority and would have prevented it from exercising its powers "without fear favour or prejudice" as guaranteed by the Constitution.
It is therefore absolutely imperitave that the the President speaks to the nation immediately to dispell these ugly rumours. Every day that he allows the rumours to swirl, is a day in which we are forced to come closer to the conclusion that our President is not a true constitutionalist and that he would be prepared to abuse his power to interfere with the workings of the criminal justice system. This would confirm all the conspiracy theories bandied about by the Zuma supporters and could easily set us on a very dangerous path towards disrespect for the Rule of Law.
If the rumours are all untrue and the President assures us accordingly, then the harm could be minimised. If he fails to dispell the rumours, then he would at best have shown utter contempt for both us, the electorate, and the constitution which requires him to uphold and protect its provisions. His silence is undermining the constitution and our respect of it.
As I am out of the country (in Amsterdam) I might be missing something - why are people not more upset, toyi-toying in the streets, storming Parliament? - but it seems to me the continuous rumours is a real disaster and a real crisis for our young democracy. It is poisoning our political system and may do it irreparable harm because it will make us distrust our leaders and the system. If our Presidnet cannot see this, or if he thinks that he does not have to deal with it, he is not worth the name of President.
Speak to us, Mr President. We voted you into office and you owe us an explanation.
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5 comments:
I doubt you would miss anything - that's Amsterdam ;) it finds you!
Here however in African-time, one must question the source of the leaked "warrant"... the SABC...
I think it would also be time to reflect on thabo's "Trust me" re don selebi...
However after an O3 trip - no doubt we'll all only hear - O3JetLag Jabbering and no plausible explination
OOO Carbon Emissions...
What can we expect next - judges being impeached (or fired without impeachment) for not toeing the line of government? This whole Thabo Mbeki thing (his struggle for a further period as President - at least of the ANC; his firing of politicians that do not toe the line of government; and now, also the NDPP) is becoming a farce that has gottten out of hand and must be corrected. Now we read that the precidency, informally, told the media that the real reason for his suspending Pikoli is not because he obtained a warrant for arrest (and a search warrant) against Selebi, but because the presidency (and the ministry of justice)was not timeosly 'informed' about the Scorpions' intention to arrest and charge Selebi. In the mean time, Selebi has all the time in the world to get rid of evidence and 'thwart' the search and seizure warrant (which was also reportedly issued), and it may just happen that he gets away with 'murder' in the process, where the President interfered in the powers of the NPA. I agree, speak to us Mr President!?
This whole thing is making me feel like a mushroom because I get the feeling Mbeki is keeping us in the dark and he feeds us shit
If these rumours were to be true then it would prove an abuse of the seperation of powers concept and blatant disregard of the constitution.As the President is acting ultra vires. The sepreation of powers then fails to fulfill its purpose of protecting the indiviual against an abuse of power by the state. if these rumours are proven to be true it is a violation of the core elements of the Constituion. Another element of the Seperation of powers principle is that it aims at regulating the relationship between the State and the citizen but if we as memebers of the community are in isolation that proves a disregard of the principle.As the President or perhaps Parliament fail to answer or inform the public regarding the validilty of these "rumours" which can be viewed as an admittion of guilt on the Presidents side, i mean why not set the record straight?
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