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Opposition parties have failed Zimbabwe, says Biti
21 Mar 2015 at 08:43hrs | Views
MDC Renewal Team Secretary General, Tendai Biti, has admitted that Zimbabwe's opposition, his team included, has largely failed to deliver according to the expectations of citizens.
He made the remarks today while addressing journalists in the capital in the wake of the dismissal of 21 MDC renewal Legislators on the grounds that they had crossed the floor from the MDC-T to join the MDC led by Welshman Ncube.
"The position in opposition politics leaves a lot to be desired and so as people in opposition politics in general, we ought to apologise to the people of Zimbabwe because we ought to be doing better," said Biti.
Regarding the expulsion of the 21 law-makers, Biti blamed MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for working in cahoots with Zanu-PF to decimate opposition seats in Parliament.
He contended that, the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, had acted in an unconstitutional manner by expelling the 21 legislators.
Denying that his group had joined hands with Ncube, Biti said there were two centres of power in the MDC-T.
"What has been done is a breach of the constitution of Zimbabwe. There is no right of a general recall in our constitution and there are two centers of power in the party (MDC-T). What we have here is a case of the law blinking and giving way to politics.
"Section 129 (1) (k) of the constitution does not have a general recall clause. A recall clause pertains to a situation whereby a member would have seized to belong to a particular party and that party would have written to the Speaker of Parliament notifying him of that," said Biti.
He said they were aware of a meeting between MDC-T and Zanu-PF members that led to the crafting of the letter recommending the expulsion of the Renewal Team MPs.
"The meeting did take place between two of our erstwhile colleagues and some elements of the ruling party in respect of which a roadmap towards it was done," said Biti.
He, however, refused to reveal the names of the people involved.
He made the remarks today while addressing journalists in the capital in the wake of the dismissal of 21 MDC renewal Legislators on the grounds that they had crossed the floor from the MDC-T to join the MDC led by Welshman Ncube.
"The position in opposition politics leaves a lot to be desired and so as people in opposition politics in general, we ought to apologise to the people of Zimbabwe because we ought to be doing better," said Biti.
Regarding the expulsion of the 21 law-makers, Biti blamed MDC-T leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for working in cahoots with Zanu-PF to decimate opposition seats in Parliament.
He contended that, the Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Mudenda, had acted in an unconstitutional manner by expelling the 21 legislators.
"What has been done is a breach of the constitution of Zimbabwe. There is no right of a general recall in our constitution and there are two centers of power in the party (MDC-T). What we have here is a case of the law blinking and giving way to politics.
"Section 129 (1) (k) of the constitution does not have a general recall clause. A recall clause pertains to a situation whereby a member would have seized to belong to a particular party and that party would have written to the Speaker of Parliament notifying him of that," said Biti.
He said they were aware of a meeting between MDC-T and Zanu-PF members that led to the crafting of the letter recommending the expulsion of the Renewal Team MPs.
"The meeting did take place between two of our erstwhile colleagues and some elements of the ruling party in respect of which a roadmap towards it was done," said Biti.
He, however, refused to reveal the names of the people involved.
Source - zimbabwean
