Mr President returns to Parliament, but what awaits him there?
By REBECCA DAVIS
The last time President Jacob Zuma answered questions in Parliament’s National Assembly, it ended abortively amid EFF chants of “Pay back the money”, and ushered in months of Parliamentary chaos. On Wednesday, Zuma makes his long-awaited return. Is there any chance of this going smoothly?
The sessions in which the president gives oral replies to Parliamentary questions are usually not terribly dramatic. The questions are submitted, vetted and published in advance. Some are from ANC MPs, which means that they are far from strenuous, since no loyal cadre will want to show up Number One.
The president reads out a carefully worded, non-committal response which mostly reveals little, unless it’s an opportunity to wax lyrical about policy. Here’s an example from questions to the president posed in November 2013.
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