News 08:00

BULLETIN 10 June 8 am

Good morning. I am……..

In this bulletin:

# The MK Party wants to interdict the first sitting of the National Assembly
# Judges Matter says the first Parliament sitting will go ahead despite the MK’s boycott 
# And Emmanuel Macron calls for a snap election after the far-right makes huge gains in the EU vote

# The MK Party says it will approach the Constitutional Court to interdict the convening of the sitting of the inaugural session of the National Assembly. The party says the sitting must be postponed until its grievances, which are premised on allegations of election fraud and vote rigging, are thoroughly addressed by the courts. Parliament is due to have its first sitting soon, where the president, deputy president, and speaker of the house will be elected. The MK Party says it remains resolute that new elections must be called.

Meanwhile, Judges Matter says the MK Party’s threat to boycott Pafrliament will unlikely impact the election of a new president and speaker. Only 134 National Assembly members are required to vote for the president, speaker, and deputy speaker. Judges Matter’s Mbekezeli Benjamin says if all of the MK Party’s 58 members of Parliament do not pitch, and all other parties’ representatives do, the National Assembly will have 342 members, which is more than enough to constitute a quorum.

# Police and Rescue Diving Units are still searching for missing people following last week’s flooding in large parts of Nelson Mandela Bay in the Eastern Cape. Ten people died in severe storms and heavy rains that battered and caused extreme damage in many areas of the metro. Police spokesperson, Priscilla Naidu, says the areas most affected are KwaNobuhle, Kariega, Walmer, Blue Horizon Bay, and Kamesh:

# French president Emmanuel Macron has dissolved France’s National Assembly and called for a snap election, which will be held within 30 days. This comes after an exit poll showed his Renaissance party is set to be trounced by Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally in the European parliamentary elections. The far-right party is on course to win 32-percent of the vote, more than twice that of the Renaissance party. Macron says France needs a clear majority to act with serenity and harmony.

# Motorsport: Red Bull’s Max Verstappen returned to winning ways by claiming victory in an action-packed Canadian Grand Prix. He overcame rain, multiple safety car periods, and restarts, to win ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ George Russell. This is Verstappen’s sixth win in nine races this season and he has extended his championship lead over Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc to 56 points. He says winning such a challenging race is very satisfying:

# And the financial indicators: The dollar trades at 18-rand-86-cents and the euro at 20-rand-31-cents. One British pound costs 24-rand-1-cents and Bitcoin trades at 69-thousand-714-dollars-26-cents. Gold sells at two-thousand-295-dollars-6-cents a fine ounce and Brent crude oil is quoted at 79-dollars-82-cents a barrel.

Stay tuned for more news………….