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S. African president escapes impeachment attempt

Xinhua, September 2, 2015 Adjust font size:

A motion to impeach South African President Jacob Zuma failed to sail through Parliament on Tuesday.

The opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) tabled the motion accusing Zuma of having violated the constitution when his government allowed Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir to leave the country in direct contravention of a court order instructing his arrest.

The debate started with the DA leader Mmusi Maimane's accusation against Zuma for violating his presidential oath to uphold the constitution.

When Zuma helped al-Bashir escape justice, he ultimately violated the constitution, Maimane said, adding that Zuma and his cabinet deliberately resolved to break the law.

"The President decided that the law did not apply to him and his cabinet," Maimane said during the debate on the motion.

However, the ruling African National Congress (ANC) rejected the motion, describing it as baseless and attention seeking.

ANC MP Lindiwe Zulu argued that al-Bashir was granted diplomatic immunity like all heads of state who attended the African Union summit in mid June in Johannesburg.

Zulu said, "The African National Congress will not support this motion.

"It is aimed at undermining the political, economic and diplomatic relations of South Africa with the African Union (AU) member states."

There were mixed views from other opposition parties, with some supporting while others rejecting the motion.

Once a deadlock was declared, Parliament Speaker Baleka Mbete decided to put the matter to vote.

A total 211 MPs voted against the motion, 100 supported it while 17 abstained.

This was Zuma's second victory this year, after he survived a vote of no confidence against him in March.

However, the DA said its objective to bring Zuma's misrule in the spotlight was achieved despite the rejection of the motion.

The International Criminal Court issued a warrant to arrest al-Bashir for war crimes when he attended the AU summit. The South African High Court in Pretoria also issued an order barring al-Bashir from leaving the country.

But Zuma defended his government's inaction that let al-Bashir leave the country and avoid arrest in June, saying the government could not arrest al-Bashir as he was in South Africa attending an African Union (AU) summit as a guest of the AU. Enditem