The DA says there is no need to change Parliament’s current whippery system, where each party has a whip in charge of its MP’s.
The party says the current system is one of a few things that actually work.
This is in response to a proposal at the recent ANC conference that a chief whip of the National Assembly be appointed instead of the current system.
The ANC says this will give such a chief whip the necessary recognition in line with the practice in the National Council of Provinces.
DA Chief Whip John Steenhuisen says this is unnecessary.
He says it will be completely problematic for members of opposition parties to be subject to the discipline of an ANC MP if there is to be a parliamentary chief whip.
“To do away with the system would do great harm to the parliamentary process. It will be another step to hollowing out parliament’s ability to hold the executive accountable,” adds Steenhuisen.
