Slabbert questions floor-crossing

CAPE TOWN -- Electoral Task Team chairman Frederik van Zyl Slabbert said yesterday it would be "extraordinary" to have a closed proportional representation electoral system and to allow crossing-the-floor.

Stressing that he was speaking in his personal capacity, Slabbert said that he "personally supports the Constitutional Court judgment that in a closed list system you come in as a member of a party and do not have a constituency mandate".

Slabbert said the Constitutional Court had been "quite adamant" when it certified the Constitution on the matter of defections. saying that under a closed system of proportional representation you cannot have defections.

"The Constitution makes provision for the fact that you may in a reasonable time look at some provision for crossing the floor. I am not quite sure under what circumstances they have decided to do this other than in terms of the dynamics of Western Cape politics."

Noting that South Africa did not have an electoral system at present, he said in a radio interview "I am not sure under what kind of system in terms of which they would hold provincial elections now if these were held, for example in the Western Cape or KwaZulu-Natal".

The DA has called for elections to be held in these two provinces in the light of the political instability there.

Slabbert said when the current Constitution had been finalised, it had been provided that the electoral system in force at the time would only apply until 1999.

Once that election was over a new electoral system would have to be created.

As a result, Slabbert said "since 1999 a vacuum has existed in terms of electoral law and that vacuum must be filled before 2004, although I am sure that given its authority, Parliament can introduce some temporary measure or extend the existing one, but that has not been done".

"Our team has spoken to all the political parties in Parliament and has conducted broad research countrywide asking voters of their opinion of the current system and what degree of activism they display, how active they are in terms, for example, of whether they belong to a political party.

"All this will end with a conference on September 9 with local, African and international experts looking at electoral systems and the research report will be made public for comment after which we will engage the parties once again on their final position on a preferred electoral system." -- DDC