THE saga of the arms deal investigation has seen an increasingly disturbing pattern where Parliament abrogates its responsibilities as an independent institution and defers to leaders of the African National Congress.

The latest example is the refusal by Parliament's ethics committee to probe an allegation that ANC chief whip Tony Yengeni breached MPs' code of conduct by failing to declare the gift of a luxury car. The ANC used its majority muscle in the committee to redirect the matter to the arms deal investigators for a finding. In doing so it overrode the Registrar of Members' Interests' recommendation that the committee investigate further the allegations against Yengeni.

Yengeni's guilt or innocence has yet to be determined, but that is not the issue here. This is the first time the committee has sat on an alleged breach of the parliamentary code of conduct, and it has kicked for touch. It has decided that Parliament is not competent to subject MPs to internal scrutiny in cases where they may be serving narrow vested interests, rather than those of the electorate. In essence it has delegated a parliamentary function to agencies outside Parliament.

That may seem rather expedient, given that a few months ago Speaker Frene Ginwala declared that the public accounts committee did not have the constitutional authority to "subcontract" the arms probe to an outside agency like the Heath unit.

It is true that the ethics committee has very limited powers of sanction and may lack the resources to conduct a full-blown inquiry. But it could have shown a willingness by compelling Yengeni to appear before it to answer questions about when and how he acquired the car. After all, Jeremy Cronin the ANC's chief spokesman at the committee meeting conceded that there could be truth to media reports that the car was a sweetener linked to the arms deal.

By not calling Yengeni the committee appears to be shielding the ruling party. Given his refusal to answer the registrar's questions, it is a fair assumption that Yengeni would also have stonewalled the committee. He would no doubt have argued that he did not wish to prejudice the criminal investigation. Such flagrant contempt of Parliament by its chief whip would have been very embarrassing for the ANC.

Throughout the arms imbroglio the ANC appears to have put short-term party considerations ahead of the longer-term concerns of executive accountability and the integrity of the different arms of state. The actions of the ethics committee can hardly strengthen the constitutional principle of the separation of powers, or Parliament's standing as a self-regulating institution primarily accountable to the people.

With acknowledgment to Business Day.