News / National
Gono to wait a little longer
05 Feb 2014 at 06:25hrs | Views
Former Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor Dr Gideon Gono will have to wait a little longer before he knows if he will be sworn-in as the Senator for Buhera after the expiry of the legal provisions governing the filling of senatorial vacancies.
In an interview with the Herald yesterday, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act under which the harmonised elections were held expired in December after their six months mandatory lifetime.
This, she said, created a legal vacuum on how ZEC would handle replacement of deceased legislators under the party list system.
The previous law stated that the successor to a deceased member would be the next person on the list submitted to ZEC by the concerned party.
In this case, Shadreck Chipanga was the next on the Zanu-PF Senate list for Manicaland, but the ruling party nominated Dr Gono to replace the late Kumbirai Kangai as Senator for Buhera.
"We will only be able to start commenting on that once the law is in place," said Justice Makarau.
"You may never know, there may be debate in Parliament and the law might say the person who was next on the party list that has already been submitted would be the one to come in."
The Electoral Amendment Bill has since been gazetted and awaits debate in Parliament.
Justice Makarau said she was aware that the recommendations were to the effect that the political party that held the seat should have the discretion to nominate a person of it's choice.
In terms of the amendments to the Electoral Act effected through the Presidential Powers in June 2013, Senators and some Members of the National Assembly affected by the quota system would be elected and replaced from a list of names submitted to ZEC by a political party.
"The party list system was introduced by those amendments and because the amendments are no longer there, we no longer have a legal framework that governs how to fill vacancies created by party list, so we are waiting for a new law," said Justice Makarau.
ZEC, she said, would not comment on the eligibility of Dr Gono to replace Kangai since it was not known what the new law would entail.
If the Electoral Amendment Bill is passed in its proposed form, Dr Gono would have to apply to Zec to have his name transferred from the voters roll for Harare province to Manicaland.
Justice Makarau said an application for the transfer had to be lodged with ZEC and not the Registrar General's Office after the new Constitution conferred such powers to the electoral body.
Kangai died in August last year and was declared a national hero.
President Mugabe used Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) to hold the July 31 elections after it emerged that time had run out for amendments to be brought before Parliament and passed within the time frame to hold the polls.
This was after consultations among Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC, the three political parties in the then inclusive Government.
In an interview with the Herald yesterday, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairperson Justice Rita Makarau said the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act under which the harmonised elections were held expired in December after their six months mandatory lifetime.
This, she said, created a legal vacuum on how ZEC would handle replacement of deceased legislators under the party list system.
The previous law stated that the successor to a deceased member would be the next person on the list submitted to ZEC by the concerned party.
In this case, Shadreck Chipanga was the next on the Zanu-PF Senate list for Manicaland, but the ruling party nominated Dr Gono to replace the late Kumbirai Kangai as Senator for Buhera.
"We will only be able to start commenting on that once the law is in place," said Justice Makarau.
"You may never know, there may be debate in Parliament and the law might say the person who was next on the party list that has already been submitted would be the one to come in."
The Electoral Amendment Bill has since been gazetted and awaits debate in Parliament.
Justice Makarau said she was aware that the recommendations were to the effect that the political party that held the seat should have the discretion to nominate a person of it's choice.
In terms of the amendments to the Electoral Act effected through the Presidential Powers in June 2013, Senators and some Members of the National Assembly affected by the quota system would be elected and replaced from a list of names submitted to ZEC by a political party.
"The party list system was introduced by those amendments and because the amendments are no longer there, we no longer have a legal framework that governs how to fill vacancies created by party list, so we are waiting for a new law," said Justice Makarau.
ZEC, she said, would not comment on the eligibility of Dr Gono to replace Kangai since it was not known what the new law would entail.
If the Electoral Amendment Bill is passed in its proposed form, Dr Gono would have to apply to Zec to have his name transferred from the voters roll for Harare province to Manicaland.
Justice Makarau said an application for the transfer had to be lodged with ZEC and not the Registrar General's Office after the new Constitution conferred such powers to the electoral body.
Kangai died in August last year and was declared a national hero.
President Mugabe used Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) to hold the July 31 elections after it emerged that time had run out for amendments to be brought before Parliament and passed within the time frame to hold the polls.
This was after consultations among Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC, the three political parties in the then inclusive Government.
Source - Herald
