MDC legislators are facing the urgent and difficult
decision of choosing between Thokozani Khupe and Nelson Chamisa — in the
process risking losing their parliamentary positions and benefits, the Daily
News On Sunday reports.
This comes as the government has made it clear that if the
legislators choose to withdraw from Parliament — as they are being urged to do
by Chamisa and his close allies — authorities will promptly withdraw all their
perks, including their top-of-the-range vehicles.
What this means, with regards to the vehicles, is that the
MPs will — minimally — be expected to repay the full amount of the loans that
were advanced to them when they acquired the vehicles, including all the duties
payable.
Some of the MDC legislators who spoke to the Daily News On
Sunday at the weekend said they were in “a lose-lose fix” because either
decision — to follow Khupe or Chamisa — came with pitfalls.
“We are in an impossible situation for sure. It’s a
lose-lose fix and the overwhelming majority of us don’t know what to do at the
moment.
“If we remain with Chamisa, who is clearly struggling to
withstand the pressure against him, we will lose everything, because most of us
survive on our parliamentary benefits.
“On the other hand, we are not sure either at the moment
how the Khupe ship will sail going forward. Most of our legislators are thus
between a rock and a hard place,” one of the MPs said.
Another anguished legislator said they were unfairly being
asked to make the “impossible decision of choosing between our livelihoods and
our political careers”.
He said defying Chamisa would “probably mean the end of my
political career beyond this current term if Chamisa ultimately triumphs over
Khupe.
“But then again, I risk being kicked out of Parliament
immediately if I defy Khupe. There is also no guarantee that I will get my seat
back through a by-election or when the next general elections are held.
“The hard reality is that for many of us it (Parliament) is
our sole source of income. We are in a terrible bind,” he said.
All this comes after the Supreme Court recently upheld last
year’s ruling by the High Court, which said Chamisa’s ascendancy to the
leadership of the MDC had violated the opposition party’s constitution and was,
therefore, null and void.
In the unanimous judgement handed down by Supreme Court
judges Paddington Garwe, Bharat Patel and Antoinette Guvava, Chamisa’s
elevation to the MDC’s presidency was thus declared unconstitutional.
The ruling also automatically re-instated former MDC
secretary general Douglas Mwonzora and ex-chairperson Morgen Komichi — who both
lost their positions at the party’s chaotic congress in Gweru last year — to
their previous positions.
And in addition to installing Khupe as interim party
president, it also ordered her to convene an extraordinary MDC congress to
elect a new leadership within three months.
Last week, the Khupe group successfully recalled Chalton
Hwende (Kuwadzana East), Tabitha Khumalo (MDC proportional representative),
Prosper Mutseyami (Dangamvura) and Midlands senator Lillian Timveos, from
Parliament, as it flexed its muscles and demonstrated that it is fully in
charge of the beleaguered party for now.
The group has also since further moved to enlist the
services of police to occupy the iconic Morgan Richard Tsvangirai (MRT) House —
formerly known as Harvest House.
To compound the problems facing MDC MPs, the government
emphasised yesterday that it will withdraw all their benefits if they
“disengage” from Parliament, as ordered by Chamisa and his top allies.
The minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs,
Ziyambi Ziyambi — who is also the leader of government business in Parliament —
said any attempts by the MDC legislators to withdraw from the august House
would also see them losing the vehicles that they acquired on loan.
“If they resign now they are also required to pay the duty
for their cars because they didn’t pay for it, as it was a privilege.
“Apart from paying this duty, they are also supposed to
settle the whole amount for the cars.
“This is not going to be settled in five years. They must
settle the whole amount the day they resign,” Ziyambi told the Daily News On
Sunday yesterday.
The MDC has a total of about 107 legislators who got
top-of-the-range parliamentary vehicles, including Toyota Hiluxes, worth
between US$40 000 and US$60 000 .
Under their parliamentary privilege, they are supposed to
pay for them through a stop order for a period of five years.
Besides their average monthly salary of between $6 000 and
$8 000, the MPs are entitled to $700 sitting allowances per session, fuel
coupons, and lucrative foreign trips on parliamentary business.
However, Ziyambi also emphasised that the MDC legislators
were “free to resign” — adding that the move would not affect the smooth
running of Parliament “in any way”.
“They are free to resign and by-elections will be
conducted. Those who are saying there is no need for by-elections are
misguided.
“In our Constitution, there is no provision which allows
the nomination of legislators. There is need for by-elections.
“Everyone is free to contest in the by-elections. For
proportional representatives and senators, the party will nominate the
replacements if they resign,” Ziyambi told the Daily News On Sunday.
This comes as the Chamisa group has alleged that the
dramatic events of the past few weeks had “President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s and
Zanu PF’s footprints” all over them.
Firebrand Zengeza West MP, Job Sikhala, even threatened to
cause mayhem in the country following the recall of the four MDC legislators
from Parliament.
Addressing the media in Harare, where Sikhala announced the
planned “disengagement” of MDC Alliance-aligned legislators, he said they were
going to take Mnangagwa head-on for “destabilising and treating the opposition
like terrorists”.
“We are going to deal with him (Mnangagwa) and this is not
an empty threat. Do I look like somebody who is joking?
“I know what will happen when we decide to cause
pandemonium in the country. You have been clamouring for this and we are now
going to give it to you in abundance,” Sikhala warned.
He also said Chamisa and his close allies were convinced
that Mnangagwa had not forgiven the youthful politician for declining to
recognise his leadership after the hotly-disputed 2018 presidential election.
Meanwhile, and in a further blow to Chamisa, the losing MDC
Alliance parliamentary candidate for Zaka West in the 2018 polls has rejected
claims that the alliance fielded people in that year’s general elections —
adding that all candidates were seconded to contest by their respective
parties.
Festus Dumbu said emphatically — while also presenting the
evidence — that he had contested the polls representing the MDC.
“The MDC Alliance did not field even a single candidate in
the 2018 harmonised elections. I contested in Zaka West clearly representing
the MDC, under the MDC Alliance electoral pact.
“Even our Declaration of Loyalty Forms were MDC forms not
Alliance forms. PDP (People’s Democratic Party) had its own systems, (Welshman)
Ncube had his own systems but we converged on the Alliance front,” he said.
“It’s surprising to see lawyers of repute choosing to lie
and mislead the nation on issues which are straightforward.
“The MDC must take responsibility for their mistakes and
regularise every omission for the good of the people’s democratic revolution.
Lies have short legs but the truth remains durable,” Dumbu added. Daily News
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