'Crack down on Travelgate MPs'
2008-08-15 21:45
Cape Town - MPs implicated in Travelgate should not be allowed to deliberate or vote on legislation to disband the Scorpions, National Assembly Speaker Baleka Mbete has been told.
That was the message this week from lawyers for businessman Hugh Glenister, who has launched a Constitutional Court challenge to the planned scrapping.
In a letter to Mbete released to the media on Friday, they said it was common knowledge that the Scorpions had investigated a large number of MPs involved in the parliamentary travel voucher fraud affair, including members of Cabinet and the two portfolio committees currently considering the bills.
The lawyers said the parliamentary code of conduct demanded that MPs declare any personal interest in matters they were dealing with.
Thereafter they had to withdraw, unless that forum decided that the interest was trivial or not relevant.
The lawyers said there had already been a breach of the code on this issue, which should not be tolerated.
They said they had been instructed by Glenister to ask Mbete for a written undertaking that she would ensure that implicated MPs withdrew from proceedings on the bills.
"We look forward to hearing from you as a matter of urgency," they said.
- SAPA