National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has
responded to Economic Freedom Fighter (EFF)'s Julius Malema's demand that she
convened a special sitting ahead of the official opening of Parliament next
month.
Malema told Mbete that Zuma must conclude the question and answer
session he was forced to abandon in August when EFF MPs chanted "pay back
the money", referring to the multi-million rand upgrades at the president's
private Nkandla homestead in KwaZulu-Natal.
The EFF leader has warned that if Mbete does not grant a special
sitting, he and his red beret MPs will put the questions to Zuma when he
presents his State of the Nation Address (Sona) in Parliament on 12 February.
Mbete says the EFF leader's ultimatum could be construed as
intimidation under the act governing Parliament.
In a letter to Malema, the speaker urges him "desist from such
conduct" and instead engage constructively over the business of the
National Assembly.
Mbete says as she indicated last year, her office and the Presidency
are working on dates for the president to come and answer MPs' questions.
She says these will then be slotted into the programme and that there's
no need for her to convene an early sitting of the National Assembly.
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