National assembly speaker Frene Ginwala, who asked last week for a multi-party parliamentary committee to judge whether she had misused her position in parliament to favour the ANC in the arms deal probe, came under increasing fire over the weekend, this time from Democratic Alliance (DA) leader Tony Leon.

United Democratic Movement (UDM) leader Bantu Holomisa said   last week that Ginwala's handling of parliament over the arms deal investigation amounted to dereliction of duty and improper interference in the affairs of a parliamentary committee.

In an open letter to the media and diplomats, Holomisa accused Ginwala of intentionally obstructing parliamentary processes, stalling the report on the arms deal by parliament's standing committee on public accounts (Scopa), and improper interference in the committee's function.

Scopa's chair, the Inkatha Freedom Party's (IFP's) Gavin Woods, has complained that Ginwala's actions helped sideline the committee from the probe into the arms deal. Ginwala wrote a letter to Woods last week demanding either that Scopa substantiate his allegations or that he retract and apologise for them.

Then, in a special statement to the national assembly last Tuesday, Ginwala told the House that it was necessary for MPs to "examine the allegations about the manner in which the Speaker has carried out the responsibilities entrusted by the Constitution and this House, and determine what action it wishes to take".

At an informal lunch on Thursday to which she invited chief whips from all parties, she proposed that a committee comprising one member of each party be set up to investigate Holomisa's statements.

In her statement on Tuesday, Ginwala urged MPs to evaluate her rulings on their merits instead of accusing her on political motives, pointing out a number of rulings she had made against the executive.

Ginwala has failed parliament - Leon

DA leader Tony Leon said on the weekend that the conduct of the speaker of parliament is of primary concern, "because every intervention of hers, especially in the contested and controversial terrain of the arms deal, creates a precedent which has major implications for our democratic future.

Speaking at a local councillors' workshop in Kimberley on Saturday, Leon said that when the speaker’s conduct and words "cross the boundary between upholding the best traditions of parliamentary democracy, and advancing a partisan and contentious issue under the authority of the highest office of parliament, then the speaker’s conduct needs to be examined very seriously indeed."

While he was not lightly criticising the speaker - "the living and symbolic embodiment of the institution of parliament itself" - Leon said her involvement in the arms deal investigation "has not been her finest hour.

"In fact, I would go further. I believe that where she should have stood up and defended parliament and its most powerful committee against executive-minding, bullying and cajoling, she seemed to join the other side.

"I would remind Dr Ginwala that her paramount duty is to advance the interests of the legislature against all comers, including the government. I believe that Speaker Ginwala may have failed parliament in this crucial matter."

With acknowledgment to WOZA.