Parliament welcomes the Western Cape High Court’s decision today, to dismiss with costs an application by Member of Parliament (MP), Mr Mario Oriani-Ambrosini for leave to appeal a ruling in favour of the National Assembly.
Oriani-Ambrosini, an MP, had sought to appeal an adverse ruling by the same High Court. The court ruled against him in December last year in his attempts to compel the National Assembly Speaker, Mr Max Sisulu to allow the introduction of his Bill without it having followed proper procedure, claiming that the rules of the National Assembly were unconstitutional. Once again, the court has affirmed that Parliament acted constitutionally and in accordance with accepted principles of democracy.
Today, the court stood by its initial ruling and dismissed his application as there is no reasonable prospect that any other court would arrive at a different conclusion. The court maintained that Mr Oriani-Ambrosini had failed to introduce his Bill following due process and thus saw no need for a different court to consider the matter.
