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Dissolve Parliament, says the DA

DA Parliamentary leader Sandra Botha yesterday tabled a notice of motion in the national assembly calling for parliament to be dissolved.

DA Parliamentary leader Sandra Botha yesterday tabled a notice of motion in the national assembly calling for parliament to be dissolved.

Speaking during debate on President Mbeki's state-of-the-nation address, she said in order to tackle the challenges facing South Africa, it was necessary to start from a clean slate.

"Therefore I now table . a notice of motion to ask that this House resolves to dissolve so that a fresh election can be called and the people of South Africa be given the opportunity to choose [their new leaders]."

Botha told MPs that South Africa was in a crisis. "There is a deep desire among South Africans to be rid of all the pervasive evidence of corruption, crime and collapsing infrastructure which invades our daily world."

She said the DA was now convinced "that the only way to achieve this is to have a new person at the helm and a new government at the helm".

Such a person and government had to be chosen by the people of South Africa, Botha said.

Section 50 (1) of the Constitution states that the president has powers to dissolve the national assembly if the assembly has adopted a resolution to dissolve with a supporting vote of a majority of its members.

Section 49 (2) of the Constitution states that if the assembly is dissolved in terms of section 50, the president must call and set a date for election, which must be held within 90 days.

The DA motion, however, is doomed to fail because the ANC holds an overwhelming majority in the national assembly. - Sapa

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