Cosatu condemns floor crossing 31-08-07

 

COSATU condemns floor crossing

The Congress of South African Trade Unions reaffirms its total opposition to floor crossing. We condemn any MPs, MPLs or councillors who use the present opportunity to defect to parties for which they were not elected.

Although the Constitutional Court has unfortunately ruled in favour of floor crossing, COSATU firmly believes that this practice subverts the democratic process and undermines the will of the people. It is a blemish on our generally progressive political landscape.

It is a mockery of the democratic process if someone can be elected to serve the people as a representative of one political party, and pledge to implement that party's manifesto, and then switch to another party with another set of policies and values.

Floor crossing can even lead to a change in political control of a local council, provincial legislature or even Parliament itself, without any input by the voters. It completely undermines the fundamental principles of democracy, which is that voters decide which party shall govern, give that party a mandate based on its election manifesto, hold that party accountable to that mandate and can remove that party at the next election.

It also fosters a culture which encourages individuals to put their own personal interests before a commitment to serve the people, and opens the door to corruption. At worst it can lead to representatives selling themselves to the highest bidder for financial reward.

This further reinforces the scandalous trend towards a culture of self-enrichment, under which some public figures prioritise amassing personal wealth over their responsibility to serve the people. It flies in the face of the ANC's long tradition of leaders serving the people, without expecting any personal financial reward.

COSATU also opposes the exclusive use of a proportional representative system, which subordinates elected members to the party leadership, and, in the case of the ruling party, to the government or executive. It discourages individuals from speaking freely, since their careers depend on those in the party leadership. This inevitably promotes a culture of sycophancy.

COSATU's Eighth National Congress resolved, in the interests of deepening democracy and ensuring that public representatives are closer to the people, to demand the introduction of a mixed electoral system that combines constituency-based and PR representation.

This would promote more dynamic contact between the people and their public representatives, make it easier for the peoples' views to be heard, strengthen the power of the representatives over the executive, and could involve voters more directly in determining candidates and replacing those they no longer had confidence in.

But it would also mean no more floor crossing. If any representative decided to switch parties, they could not just cross the floor to another party but would first have to resign, justify the reasons for the switch and ask the electorate to decide whether or not to re-elect them on a new party ticket. The people must be sovereign!