News / National
'Tsvangirai's will remain in office until the next elections,' says Magaisa
16 May 2013 at 02:56hrs | Views
PRIME Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's office has been forced to respond to allegations that 'uncertainty hangs over Tsvangirai's political statuis.
MDC-T legat advisors says Tsvangirai will remain in his position until the next elections - even after President Robert Mugabe signs the new constitution into law, his office said on Wednesday.
The clarification came after the state-run Herald newspaper reported that "uncertainty hangs over Tsvangirai's political status" because the new constitution abolishes the post of Prime Minister.
Gabriel Chaibva, a Zanu-PF official referred to as a "political commentator" by the Herald, claimed Tsvangirai would be "rendered jobless" by Mugabe's pen when he assents to the new constitution which sailed through the House of Assembly a second time on Wednesday.
But Alex Magaisa, a political adviser to the Prime Minister, insists that Tsvangirai and the rest of the Cabinet will remain in their jobs until after general elections which are due this year.
"The new constitution includes a set of transitional provisions in Part 4 of the Sixth Schedule. Section 15 of the Sixth Schedule specifically provides for the continuation of the President's Office, the Office of the Prime Minister and ministerial offices until the effective date which is the date when a newly elected President assumes office following elections under the new Constitution," Magaisa said in a statement.
"To avoid any doubt, Section 15 specifically provides that 'the persons who held those [Executive] offices remain in them accordingly'.
"Therefore, until the day a new President assumes office after the next election, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, alongside President Mugabe, their deputies and Cabinet ministers and their deputies will remain in office.
"The reason for this provision which protects not only the executive offices but also the actual persons who occupy them is very simple: In crafting the new constitution, cognisance was taken of the special political circumstance of the Global Political Agreement and the governmental structure created under its terms.
"The intention was to ensure that the African Union and SADC-guaranteed special governmental structure is protected at least until the successful completion of a credible and legitimate election."
He said: "to suggest that Tsvangirai's future is uncertain in the transitional period is either informed by ignorance or calculated selective reading of the new constitution", adding: "Ignorance may be understandable and is probably forgivable, but not selective reading and deliberate distortion of the law."
MDC-T legat advisors says Tsvangirai will remain in his position until the next elections - even after President Robert Mugabe signs the new constitution into law, his office said on Wednesday.
The clarification came after the state-run Herald newspaper reported that "uncertainty hangs over Tsvangirai's political status" because the new constitution abolishes the post of Prime Minister.
Gabriel Chaibva, a Zanu-PF official referred to as a "political commentator" by the Herald, claimed Tsvangirai would be "rendered jobless" by Mugabe's pen when he assents to the new constitution which sailed through the House of Assembly a second time on Wednesday.
But Alex Magaisa, a political adviser to the Prime Minister, insists that Tsvangirai and the rest of the Cabinet will remain in their jobs until after general elections which are due this year.
"The new constitution includes a set of transitional provisions in Part 4 of the Sixth Schedule. Section 15 of the Sixth Schedule specifically provides for the continuation of the President's Office, the Office of the Prime Minister and ministerial offices until the effective date which is the date when a newly elected President assumes office following elections under the new Constitution," Magaisa said in a statement.
"To avoid any doubt, Section 15 specifically provides that 'the persons who held those [Executive] offices remain in them accordingly'.
"Therefore, until the day a new President assumes office after the next election, Prime Minister Tsvangirai, alongside President Mugabe, their deputies and Cabinet ministers and their deputies will remain in office.
"The reason for this provision which protects not only the executive offices but also the actual persons who occupy them is very simple: In crafting the new constitution, cognisance was taken of the special political circumstance of the Global Political Agreement and the governmental structure created under its terms.
"The intention was to ensure that the African Union and SADC-guaranteed special governmental structure is protected at least until the successful completion of a credible and legitimate election."
He said: "to suggest that Tsvangirai's future is uncertain in the transitional period is either informed by ignorance or calculated selective reading of the new constitution", adding: "Ignorance may be understandable and is probably forgivable, but not selective reading and deliberate distortion of the law."
Source - news
