By Hassan Isilow JOHANNESBURG (AA) – South Africa’s president said Thursday it was unfair for opposition parties to demand that members of parliament vote in a secret ballot in a potential motion of no confidence against him. ‘‘I have faced seven kind of no confidence [motions]. How did we vote on the seven? Why this time you think you should do it differently?” President Jacob Zuma asked opposition members of parliament while responding to questions in the National Assembly. South Africa’s constitutional court ruled Thursday that a vote of no confidence against the president could be held in a secret ballot if the National Assembly speaker allows it.. Speaker Baleka Mbete, who is also the chairwoman of Zuma’s ruling African National Congress (ANC), had earlier said she did not have power to make such a decision. The constitutional court’s decision followed an appeal lodged by opposition parties, who were upset by Zuma’s decision to remove several cabinet ministers in March, prompting South Africa’s credit rating to be downgraded. Opposition parties believe that under a secret ballot, MPs from Zuma’s ANC who hold the majority in the house, would vote against him without fear of persecution. ‘‘Let’s vote like we have done in the past,’’ Zuma suggested in parliament, adding that South Africans had not made a mistake in electing him. He said the opposition was trying to get a majority they did not have through a secret vote in parliament. “If we went to elections now you would lose,” Zuma told Mmusi Maimane the main opposition leader, who had reminded Zuma how his party lost three major municipalities in recent local government polls. A new date for a motion of no confidence against Zuma is expected to be scheduled soon.
Zuma has been accused of many scandals including using millions of state funds to upgrade his rural home. His ruling ANC party has been in power since the end of white minority rule in 1994.
