PARLIAMENT is looking at amending the rules to allow for the Speaker to be nominated before the election date for the post.
This came this week when it emerged that Parliament would have to prepare for the election of a new Speaker after Thandi Modise was appointed to the Cabinet.
Parties cannot nominate their candidates in advance and have to wait until Thursday to make nominations if they wish to challenge Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula for the position.
The ANC has put forward Mapisa-Nqakula as their candidate to take over from Modise.
But the rules allow that nominations by the other parties can be made from the floor on the day of the elections.
Parties will be forced to send their MPs to Parliament to vote on the new Speaker.
ANC chief whip Pemmy Majodina said they were looking at getting nominations ahead of time to prevent the logistical challenges of Parliament preparing for elections on the day and printing ballots if there were more than one candidate nominated for the position.
“In the programming committee we said let us look at the possibility that we get nominations in advance so that Parliament can prepare logistics that may be needed. We have raised that when nominations are done on the day we take a long time. We are shortening the process. We are saying the logistical nightmare … because ballot papers are printed on the day of the nomination,” said Majodina.
DA chief whip Natasha Mazzone said they were worried if the rules were changed now to accommodate the election on Thursday it could be subject to legal challenge.
However, this could be done in so far as changing the rules for future purposes, she said.
Corne Mulder of the Freedom Front Plus said he wanted to warn about pushing through the changes now because of the current problem facing Parliament.
The rules require that the chief justice be consulted by Parliament and he will preside over the election of the new Speaker.
POLITICAL BUREAU