JOHANNESBURG (AP) — A South African parliamentary debate over whether to remove President Jacob Zuma was delayed Tuesday after opposition lawmakers alleged that the parliament speaker, a Zuma ally, could not preside over the session because she isn't impartial.

Speaker Baleka Mbete temporarily suspended the session in parliament after angry complaints that she was implicated in wrongdoing with Zuma, who apologized after the country's highest court said he violated the constitution in a scandal over millions of dollars in state spending on his private home.

The Constitutional Court also ruled last week that the National Assembly, which is dominated by the ruling African National Congress, failed in its obligations to hold the president to account.

The motion to remove Zuma is unlikely to pass because it requires a two-thirds majority for approval. The ANC, which has supported Zuma, has a comfortable majority.

The Constitutional Court said Zuma should have abided by a state watchdog agency's recommendations that he pay back some of the money.

Zuma has since pledged to pay back an amount to be determined by the national treasury.