News / National
Its Zanu Vs MDC-T in the speaker of Zimbabwe parliament fight as MDC-N abstains
22 Mar 2011 at 07:48hrs | Views
THE Movement for Democrat Change faction led by Welshman Ncube has announced that it will not field a candidate for the post and its parliamentarians will abstain from voting.
The leader of the smaller MDC formation wrote on his Facebook profile that his party's leadership had met and decided to abstain from the voting process to elect a new Speaker of Parliament.
"The MDC National Standing Committee met on 20 March n resolved that the party would abstain from the election of the Speaker of Parliament," wrote Ncube.
The party said it would not support the candidate of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF or that put forth by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC, saying the two inclusive Government parties had "ganged up" to prevent Ncube from replacing former party leader Arthur Mutambara as deputy prime minister.
Some lawmakers of the Ncube MDC wing said the decision to abstain had not been communicated to them, and discipline has been an issue for the party, so it remained possible that some parliamentarians of the MDC formation might cast ballots.
Party spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told VOA that the formation does not care whether the parliament elects a Zanu-PF or an MDC-T speaker.
Meanwhile, Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, is expected to announce the vacancy for Speaker of the House of Assembly when Parliament resumes business Tuesday afternoon.
This is in line with Parliament's Standing Rules and Orders number 16, which empowers the Clerk of Parliament to announce a vacancy soon after the incumbent has left office either by dissolution or other reasons.
The seat fell vacant two weeks ago following a Supreme Court ruling which nullified the election of Lovemore Moyo (MDC-T) after an appeal by Jonathan Moyo who argued the election had been fraught with procedural irregularities.
Parliament's Standing Rules and Order (No 3) prescribes that the quorum required for the election of Speaker is only 25 MPs.
The leader of the smaller MDC formation wrote on his Facebook profile that his party's leadership had met and decided to abstain from the voting process to elect a new Speaker of Parliament.
"The MDC National Standing Committee met on 20 March n resolved that the party would abstain from the election of the Speaker of Parliament," wrote Ncube.
The party said it would not support the candidate of President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF or that put forth by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC, saying the two inclusive Government parties had "ganged up" to prevent Ncube from replacing former party leader Arthur Mutambara as deputy prime minister.
Some lawmakers of the Ncube MDC wing said the decision to abstain had not been communicated to them, and discipline has been an issue for the party, so it remained possible that some parliamentarians of the MDC formation might cast ballots.
Party spokesman Nhlanhla Dube told VOA that the formation does not care whether the parliament elects a Zanu-PF or an MDC-T speaker.
Meanwhile, Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, is expected to announce the vacancy for Speaker of the House of Assembly when Parliament resumes business Tuesday afternoon.
This is in line with Parliament's Standing Rules and Orders number 16, which empowers the Clerk of Parliament to announce a vacancy soon after the incumbent has left office either by dissolution or other reasons.
The seat fell vacant two weeks ago following a Supreme Court ruling which nullified the election of Lovemore Moyo (MDC-T) after an appeal by Jonathan Moyo who argued the election had been fraught with procedural irregularities.
Parliament's Standing Rules and Order (No 3) prescribes that the quorum required for the election of Speaker is only 25 MPs.
Source - Byo24News
