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{
    "id": 944181,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/944181/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 153,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Sen. Orengo",
    "speaker_title": "The Senate Minority Leader",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 129,
        "legal_name": "Aggrey James Orengo",
        "slug": "james-orengo"
    },
    "content": " Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, I probably would have been better listening, but I have asked you to give me a lot of time. I could see the mood of the House. I wish Sen. Mutula Kilonzo Jr. to give the Deputy Speaker a little bit of time. The communication you have made today is very pertinent. Looking at the Constitution and the Standing Orders with regard to the removal of a president or a governor, either with regard to incapacity or by way of impeachment, they are time- bound. That is very important to declare at the outset; they must be done within a maximum of 21 days. A lot of the matters that go before the courts tend to forget that the questions of impeachment are time-bound. The reason is that the issue of a governor or a president being impeached should not be a matter that occupies the country or institutions for months and days. That is why the framers of the Constitution wanted the matter to be settled as quickly as possible. Mr. Deputy Speaker, Sir, the problem with our Constitution is that it belongs to the new type of constitutions, which have been described as constitutional democracies. It is quite different from the American constitutional structure. For example, nobody in the United States of America can ever imagine that when an impeachment process is ongoing, anybody can go to court. Since the impeachment of President Trump is ongoing, nobody can imagine going to court. However, in the modern democracy, which includes South Africa, Nigeria and ourselves, and where the Bill of Rights are at the center stage of our written Constitution, you find that judicial interference is something that occurs every now and again. I want to begin with Sen. Wetangula. There was a time when the Speaker wanted to gazette him, that he is no longer a voter, and thus he ceases to be a Member of Parliament. We had to go to court to make that intervention and ensure that decision was The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}