Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi, who steered the Constitutional Amendment Bill, says the two thirds majority Zanu PF commands was a reflection of the voting pattern.
“There is nothing called abuse of two thirds majority. The
two thirds are the people. We are all seated here representing people so
whatever we articulate and do here is a reflection of the voting pattern.
Therefore, the minority must not say that the majority want this when the
majority is speaking.
“We represent the majority and what we propagate is what
the majority want,” said Minister Ziyambi.
The Second Bill to amend the Constitution sailed through
the National Assembly yesterday after it got an overwhelming two thirds
majority vote required for its passage.
At least 191 MPs predominantly from Zanu PF, voted for its
passage while 22 legislators voted against it.
Some of the amendments include the removal of the
requirement for judges to produce annual medical certificates for them to be
considered fit to warrant a further extension.
This was after it was felt that a judge’s impartiality
could be compromised especially when adjudicating matters that involved the
State given that he or she would be beholden to it at the end of each year, for
their tenure to be extended.
Legislators from the ruling Zanu PF burst into song soon
after Speaker of the National Assembly Advocate Jacob Mudenda directed its
Third Reading after telling them that the number of votes satisfied the
requirements of the Constitution that it must have two thirds majority.
After its passage, Minister Ziyambi commended legislators
for peacefully voting for the Bill.
“I want to thank Honourable Members for the peaceful and
overwhelming voting. It showed that we voted with a common purpose. I also
thank you for the robust debate we had,” said Minister Ziyambi.
During debate, legislators mostly from Zanu PF, supported
the Bill saying it was progressive while others from the opposition said there
was need to amend the supreme law of the land.
In an interview after the Zanu PF legislators’ meeting
yesterday morning, Minister Ziyambi said the running mate clause would be done
away with if the amendments were passed by Parliament.
“The first issue is we have the contentious issue that was
parked in the 2013 Constitution of the running mate clause which we have agreed
should be done away with and we continue with the status quo,” he said.
Under the running mate clause, the President would be
elected on the same ticket with his two deputies, a position Minister Ziyambi
said, could lead to two centres of power.
Presently, the President appoints his deputies, a scenario that will continue if the amendment Bill is passed.
“The other issue that is there is that we need to ensure
that our women are empowered and they participate in politics hence we want to
extend the clause that makes provisions for 60 seats in the National Assembly,”
he said.
The provision for 60 seats was set to expire in 2023 and
Minister Ziyambi said the extension would allow more stakeholder consultations
on how best to ensure women participation in politics.
Minister Ziyambi added that the Constitutional Amendment
Bill would also provide a youth quota of 10 seats in the National Assembly.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill will also remove the
clause for judges to be interviewed for promotion to superior courts with the
process only being done at entry level.
The MPs were also briefed on the Cyber Security and Data
Protection Bill, whose objective is to increase cyber security in order to
build confidence and trust in the secure use of information and communication
technologies by data controllers, their representatives and data subjects. Herald
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