Louis Green (politician)

Louis Michael Green is a South African politician who served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009. He was the chief whip of the African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP) until September 2005, when he crossed the floor to the newly founded Federation of Democrats (FD). He has since joined the Congress of the People (COPE).

Louis Green
Member of the National Assembly
In office
May 1994 – May 2009
Personal details
CitizenshipSouth Africa
Political partyCongress of the People
Other political
affiliations

Legislative career

ACDP: 1994–2005

Green served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009, gaining election on the ACDP's national list in 1994,[1] 1999,[2] and 2004.[3] He also served as deputy president of the ACDP under president Kenneth Meshoe; he was re-elected unopposed to that position in 2003.[4] As of 2005 he served as the party's chief whip in the assembly.[5]

In 1996, Green and Meshoe – then the ACDP's representatives in the National Assembly – voted against the adoption of the post-apartheid Constitution. Green later said that it had been one of the most difficult decisions of his career but was based on principled support for the death penalty, which was inconsistent with the Constitution.[6] Green was also an opponent of equal rights for gay people: when Njongonkulu Ndungane, the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town, congratulated Gene Robinson on his consecration, Green reminded Ndungane that homosexuality was "an abomination" in terms of Leviticus and said that "as Christians we cannot interpret God's word to suit modern lifestyles".[7]

During his second term in Parliament, Green was a member of Parliament's ethics committee. He was suspended from the committee in October 2003, apparently for breaching its confidentiality rules, though Green disputed that he had shared any confidential information: during the committee's inquiry into Deputy President Jacob Zuma's financial interests, Green had told the media that Zuma's defence relied for evidence on loan documents that were "only recently drawn up".[8][9]

FD: 2005–2009

On 1 September 2005, during that month's floor-crossing window, Green resigned from the ACDP and defected to the newly established FD.[3][5] He later said that he had left "on a matter of principle" because he disagreed with how Meshoe had treated Rhoda Southgate, the ACDP parliamentarian who founded the FD.[10] In response Meshoe said that the ACDP was surprised and had not considered Green "a political opportunist".[11]

Green represented the FD until the 2009 general election, in which he was not re-elected. In the 2019 general election, he stood unsuccessfully for election on the list of COPE, another opposition party.[12]

References
  1. "Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly" (PDF). Department of Justice and Constitutional Development. 24 May 1994. Retrieved 2 April 2023.
  2. "General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures" (PDF). Government Gazette of South Africa. Vol. 408, no. 20203. Pretoria, South Africa: Government of South Africa. 11 June 1999. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  3. "National Assembly Members". Parliamentary Monitoring Group. 15 January 2009. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2023.
  4. "ACDP plans to pull South Africa out of the 'abyss'". The Mail & Guardian. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  5. "New party snaps up ACDP heavyweight". IOL. 2 September 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  6. "Star of the born-again heaven". The Mail & Guardian. 14 May 1999. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  7. "ACDP: Being gay an abomination". News24. 3 November 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  8. "ACDP whip: ANC will protect Zuma". IOL. 22 October 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  9. "Zuma: Watchdogs aren't barking". The Mail & Guardian. 24 October 2003. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  10. "It's floor-crossing time again". IOL. 15 July 2007. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  11. "The thrills and spills of musical chairs". The Mail & Guardian. 1 September 2005. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
  12. "Louis Michael Green". People's Assembly. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
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