Louis Green (politician)

Green served in the National Assembly from 1994 to 2009, gaining election on the ACDP's national list in 1994,{{Cite web |date=24 May 1994 |title=Minutes of proceedings of the Constitutional Assembly |url=https://www.justice.gov.za/legislation/constitution/history/MINUTES/CA24054.PDF |access-date=2 April 2023 |publisher=Department of Justice and Constitutional Development}} 1999,{{cite magazine |date=11 June 1999 |title=General Notice: Notice 1319 of 1999 – Electoral Commission: Representatives Elected to the Various Legislatures |url=https://gazettes.africa/archive/za/1999/za-government-gazette-dated-1999-06-11-no-20203.pdf |magazine=Government Gazette of South Africa |location=Pretoria, South Africa |publisher=Government of South Africa |volume=408 |issue=20203 |pages= |access-date=26 March 2021}} and 2004.{{Cite web |date=2009-01-15 |title=National Assembly Members |url=http://www.pmg.org.za/parlinfo/nalist#_ftnref87 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090514071402/http://www.pmg.org.za/parlinfo/nalist#_ftnref87 |archive-date=14 May 2009 |access-date=2023-04-08 |website=Parliamentary Monitoring Group}} He also served as deputy president of the ACDP under president Kenneth Meshoe; he was re-elected unopposed to that position in 2003.{{Cite web |date=2003-12-15 |title=ACDP plans to pull South Africa out of the ‘abyss’ |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-12-15-acdp-plans-to-pull-south-africa-out-of-the-abyss/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} As of 2005 he served as the party's chief whip in the assembly.{{Cite news |date=2 September 2005 |title=New party snaps up ACDP heavyweight |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/new-party-snaps-up-acdp-heavyweight-252400 |access-date=12 April 2023}}

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.{{Cite web |date=1999-05-14 |title=Star of the born-again heaven |url=https://mg.co.za/article/1999-05-14-star-of-the-born-again-heaven/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} 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".{{Cite web |date=3 November 2003 |title=ACDP: Being gay an abomination |url=https://www.news24.com/news24/acdp-being-gay-an-abomination-20031103 |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=News24 |language=en-US}}

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".{{Cite news |date=22 October 2003 |title=ACDP whip: ANC will protect Zuma |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/acdp-whip-anc-will-protect-zuma-114660 |access-date=12 April 2023}}{{Cite web |date=2003-10-24 |title=Zuma: Watchdogs aren’t barking |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2003-10-24-zuma-watchdogs-arent-barking/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

On 1 September 2005, during that month's floor-crossing window, Green resigned from the ACDP and defected to the newly established FD. 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.{{Cite news |date=15 July 2007 |title=It's floor-crossing time again |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/its-floor-crossing-time-again-362037 |access-date=12 April 2023}} In response Meshoe said that the ACDP was surprised and had not considered Green "a political opportunist".{{Cite web |date=2005-09-01 |title=The thrills and spills of musical chairs |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2005-09-01-the-thrills-and-spills-of-musical-chairs/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}

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.{{Cite web |title=Louis Michael Green |url=http://www.pa.org.za/person/louis-michael-green/ |access-date=2023-04-12 |website=People's Assembly |language=en}}

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Category:African Christian Democratic Party politicians

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1994–1999

Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Africa 1999–2004

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:Congress of the People (South African political party) politicians