News / National
Parliament release MP swearing in programme
31 Aug 2013 at 04:34hrs | Views
THE Parliament of Zimbabwe has released the programme for the swearing in of newly elected members of the National Assembly and Senate.
In an interview yesterday, the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Austin Zvoma said all the necessary preparations were on course ahead of the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. Mr Zvoma would preside over the swearing in proceedings for members of the National Assembly and the Senate.
"We have since come up with the programme for the swearing in of the elected members of the National Assembly and Senate on Tuesday. The National Assembly members will be sworn in by the Clerk of Parliament between 9am and 11am after which there will be the nomination for the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
"The swearing in proceedings for the Senate will be between 2pm and 3pm and the Clerk of Parliament will thereafter call for nominations for the elections for the President of the Senate and his or her deputy. If there is a single nomination then that candidate is automatically declared duly elected but if there is more than one nomination we will then proceed to conduct elections by secret ballot under the supervision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)," he said.
Mr Zvoma said soon after the announcement of results, successful candidates would then take oath before the Chief Justice or the next most senior judge available, before they commence their duties.
Zanu-PF has already nominated Jacob Mudenda for the post of Speaker of Parliament while Edna Madzongwe would be retained as President of the Senate.
Mr Zvoma said the five ministers that would be appointed by President Mugabe outside Parliament for their special skills in line with the new Constitution would not take oath under Parliament.
They will, however, sit in Parliament.
According to the Constitution a person is qualified for election as Speaker, if he or she is or has been a Member of the National Assembly or is qualified to be elected to the National Assembly.
A person is qualified for election as President of the Senate if he or she is or has been a Senator or is qualified to be elected to the Senate.
If a sitting Member of Parliament is elected Speaker or President of the Senate, the seat held by that particular person elected immediately falls vacant.
National Assembly is the new name for the Lower House of Parliament, which was previously called the House of Assembly.
There are no ex officio or appointed seats.
There are 270 National Assembly seats in all, 210 for constituency members and 60 for women MPs elected by a party-list system of proportional representation, six for each of the 10 provinces, based on how many votes each participating party got in the constituency elections in each province.
Zanu-PF has 160 Constituency seats, MDC-T (49), MDC (0) while one is an independent, Harare lawyer Mr Jonathan Samukange.
In an interview yesterday, the Clerk of Parliament, Mr Austin Zvoma said all the necessary preparations were on course ahead of the swearing in ceremony on Tuesday. Mr Zvoma would preside over the swearing in proceedings for members of the National Assembly and the Senate.
"We have since come up with the programme for the swearing in of the elected members of the National Assembly and Senate on Tuesday. The National Assembly members will be sworn in by the Clerk of Parliament between 9am and 11am after which there will be the nomination for the election of Speaker and Deputy Speaker.
"The swearing in proceedings for the Senate will be between 2pm and 3pm and the Clerk of Parliament will thereafter call for nominations for the elections for the President of the Senate and his or her deputy. If there is a single nomination then that candidate is automatically declared duly elected but if there is more than one nomination we will then proceed to conduct elections by secret ballot under the supervision of the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC)," he said.
Mr Zvoma said soon after the announcement of results, successful candidates would then take oath before the Chief Justice or the next most senior judge available, before they commence their duties.
Zanu-PF has already nominated Jacob Mudenda for the post of Speaker of Parliament while Edna Madzongwe would be retained as President of the Senate.
Mr Zvoma said the five ministers that would be appointed by President Mugabe outside Parliament for their special skills in line with the new Constitution would not take oath under Parliament.
According to the Constitution a person is qualified for election as Speaker, if he or she is or has been a Member of the National Assembly or is qualified to be elected to the National Assembly.
A person is qualified for election as President of the Senate if he or she is or has been a Senator or is qualified to be elected to the Senate.
If a sitting Member of Parliament is elected Speaker or President of the Senate, the seat held by that particular person elected immediately falls vacant.
National Assembly is the new name for the Lower House of Parliament, which was previously called the House of Assembly.
There are no ex officio or appointed seats.
There are 270 National Assembly seats in all, 210 for constituency members and 60 for women MPs elected by a party-list system of proportional representation, six for each of the 10 provinces, based on how many votes each participating party got in the constituency elections in each province.
Zanu-PF has 160 Constituency seats, MDC-T (49), MDC (0) while one is an independent, Harare lawyer Mr Jonathan Samukange.
Source - herald
