South African Opposition Parties Walk Out of Parliament

JOHANNESBURG – South African opposition parties walked out of a parliament session Tuesday.

The South African Press Association says the main opposition Democratic Alliance and the smaller Congress of the People walked out after the deputy speaker ordered a Congress of the People lawmaker to withdraw a comment about the government leading the country into lawlessness.

The governing African National Congress, which has won every election since the first multiracial vote in 1994, has 264 seats, just short of two-thirds of the house. The Dem¡ocratic Alliance has 67, and the Congress of the People, which was formed last year by former ANC members, has 30.

The walkout came after President Jacob Zuma delivered a speech expanding on last week's state of the nation address.