By Bulawayo Correspondent
MEMBERS of the MDC Veterans Activists Association (VAA) have joined civil society organisations and opposition parties in condemning the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T for supporting Zanu PF in passing the controversial Amendment Bill Number 2 last week.
Some MDC-T senators last Tuesday joined hands with their Zanu PF colleagues and traditional leaders in voting for the Second Amendment Bill.
It was signed into law by President Emmerson Mnangagwa Friday and is now part of the Constitution.
However, civil society organisations, opposition parties, lawyers, and ordinary Zimbabweans have been very vocal in rejecting the amendments, arguing some of the changes, like the removal of the presidential running mate clause, were draconian.
By Bulawayo Correspondent
A senior MDC-T official in Matebeleland North province has resigned in protest over party MPs’ endorsement of the Zanu PF sponsored Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 2.
The official, Noris Nyathi is the former deputy mayor for the resort city of Victoria Falls.
MDC-T MPs in the lower house and lately in the Senate, joined hands with Zanu PF MPs to vote for the Second Amendment to the Constitution.
The changes, among other issues, include the scrapping of the running mate clause and public interviews for the promotion of judges as well as extending their term of office after reaching the retirement age of 70.
Zimbabwe: Constitution – Mnangagwa Power Play ‘A Great Betrayal of People’
8 hours ago
By Miriam Mangwaya
President Emmerson Mnangagwa is repeating mistakes made by his predecessor Robert Mugabe by seeking to amend the constitution to entrench his rule, political analysts have warned.
Mnangagwa and his ruling Zanu PF have been pushing through Parliament a raft of amendments to the supreme law, that critics say will result in the creation of an imperial presidency.
Zanu PF has received the backing of an unlikely ally in the crusade to remake the 2013 constitution in the Douglas Mwonzora- led MDC-T, which has voted with the ruling party twice to pass the amendments.
Zanu PF cheated MDCs on running mates: Charamba
BY RICHARD MUPONDE/MIRIAM MANGWAYA
President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s spokesperson George Charamba has revealed that Zanu PF tricked the opposition MDC formations to consent to the passing of the Constitutional Amendment No 20 with a contentious clause on the running mate, waiting to get a super majority in Parliament and then amend it before it becomes operational.
The running mate clause was one of the sticking points among a myriad of other clauses which nearly derailed the Constitution-making process as Zanu PF was bitterly opposed it.
However, it grudgingly conceded to have the Constitution passed in a referendum.