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Facilitation team in town for election roadmap; Parliamentary update
- Bill Watch 29/2011
Veritas
July 21, 2011
The House
of Assembly is sitting this week
The Senate has adjourned until Tuesday 26th July
Roadmap to Elections
Two members of President Zuma’s facilitation team –
Lindiwe Zulu and Mac Maharaj – arrived in Harare yesterday
for a follow-up on the Election Roadmap being finalised by the facilitator
and the three party negotiators. Although a time frame was drawn
up and agreed by the facilitators and party negotiators it is still
to be agreed by the party principals. President Mugabe may prove
to be obdurate on this issue, as the ZANU-PF Politburo on Wednesday
13th July resolved that the elections must be this year. This contradicted
the timeframe for the Roadmap to Elections agreed by all the negotiators
including those from ZANU-PF on the 6th July, which envisaged August
2012 for the elections.
What has been agreed by the three parties’ negotiators and
the facilitation team, and was the stance
taken by SADC at its last Summit, was that the new Constitution
must be in place before Zimbabwe goes to elections. As the thematic
committee stage of the constitution-making process has still not
resumed, ZANU-PF’s insistence on elections this year is simply
not attainable. It must be remembered that at the next SADC Summit
due in August, President Zuma is due to take over the chairmanship
of the SADC Organ on Politics, Defence and Security Cooperation.
As SADC has mandated both President Zuma as Facilitator and the
SADC Organ to continue working for the full implementation of the
GPA
– which includes completion of the constitution-making exercise
as a pre-condition to the elections, for ZANU-PF to maintain its
insistence on elections this year would put it at loggerheads not
only with South Africa but also with the rest of the region.
Lindiwe Zulu, the facilitators’ spokesperson, said that as
well as working on the Election Roadmap the team would look at other
issues in the GPA that have not yet been implemented. The team was
scheduled to meet with JOMIC, which was set up by the three parties
to monitor the implementation of the GPA.
Note: the SADC
Sandton Summit in June resolved that there should be a three-person
SADC team in Zimbabwe to work with JOMIC, but the team members have
not yet been indentified.
One of the outstanding issues is the non-impartiality of the security
sector, which is likely to be a sticking point in the implementation
plan. The Facilitators will be expected to produce a report for
next SADC Summit, which will be on the 17th and 18th of August in
Luanda, and as well as reporting on the Election Roadmap and GPA
implementation, they will be giving their assessment of the conditions
of the country. As part of this assessment they will be meeting
with the Electoral Commission, the Human Rights Commission and the
Media Commission.
In Parliament Last Week
Both Houses sat on Tuesday 12th, Wednesday 13th and Thursday 14th
July.
House of Assembly
Bills
Zimbabwe
Human Rights Commission Bill – the Minister of Justice
and Legal Affairs introduced the Bill on 12th July and it was immediately
referred to the Parliamentary Legal Committee [PLC] for a report
on its constitutionality.
National
Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill – the Bill
was not dealt with. It remained awaiting its Second Reading.
Motions
Public Service remuneration, ghost workers, proceeds from diamond
sales – most of Tuesday afternoon’s sitting was taken
up with debate on this comprehensive motion, which calls for all
minerals to be sold to be sold to the best advantage of the country,
for proceeds of diamond mining to be properly accounted for and
go to Treasury, for Treasury to take full control of diamond mining;
for ghost workers to be removed from the Government payroll and
for conditions of service of everyone paid through Treasury [which
includes Parliamentarians] to be improved.
Unconstitutional Statements by Service Chiefs – MDC-T MP Settlement
Chikwinya proposed his motion calling on the House to condemn the
“unconstitutional and treasonous statements that bring into
disrepute the professional institutions of the Army and the Police”,
to request the Army and the Police to reaffirm their loyalty to
the constitution and laws of Zimbabwe, and to direct the relevant
authorities to investigate the statements complained of and make
their findings public.
Question Time
There was improved attendance by Ministers, and the backlog of unanswered
written questions was reduced from 38 to 19. [Details of replies
cannot be supplied, as the Hansard reports for Wednesday and Thursday
were unavailable at time of writing.]
Senate
Bills
Small Enterprises Development Corporation Amendment Bill –
the Bill went through all its stages on Tuesday afternoon and was
passed without amendment. As it has already been passed by the House
of Assembly, it will now go to the President for his assent and
subsequent gazetting as an Act.
Public
Order and Security [POSA] Amendment Bill – the Bill was
not dealt with [its presenter, Innocent Gonese MP of MDC-T, is still
waiting for the coming into force of the amendment to Senate Standing
Orders that will permit him, as a member of the other House, to
take his Bill through the Senate. The amendment is expected to be
in force by the time the Senate resumes on 26th July.]
Deposit
Protection Corporation Bill – in the absence of the Minister
of Finance, this Bill was not dealt with.
International Agreements
The nine agreements listed for Senate approval in compliance with
section 111B of the Constitution were not considered. They will
have to be dealt with when the Senate resumes on 26th July [see
Bill
Watch 28/2011 of 11th July for list].
Motions
Sanctions
Senator Mandaba wound up the debate on his motion, noting that the
need for the removal of sanctions had been agreed by all the GPA
parties. The motion was adopted – this means the Senate has
resolved to call on the inclusive
government to: institute a class action case against the EU
in the European Court of Justice, challenging sanctions; to demand
that the western powers withdrawn sanctions and end their hostile
propaganda; and to mobilize international support against sanctions.
Thematic Committee Reports Take note motions on the following reports
were presented by the committee chairpersons.
- Millennium
Development Goals on Social Protection Programmes –Thematic
Committee on MDGs
- State of
Prisons and Prisoners –Thematic Committee on Human Rights
on the State
- Indigenisation
and Empowerment Policies and Programmes –Thematic Committee
on Indigenisation and Empowerment
Debate on the
reports will follow later. Electronic versions of reports available
from veritas@mango.zw
In the House of Assembly This Week
Bills
National Incomes and Pricing Commission Amendment Bill – this
is the only Bill listed for consideration by the House. It awaits
its Second Reading. The Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill, presented
last week, is under consideration by the PLC.
PLC Adverse Reports
Several PLC adverse reports are listed for consideration. Most of
them concern penalty clauses in various local authority by-laws.
The report on the Indigenisation
and Empowerment Amendment Regulations SI 34/2011 is not likely
to be discussed, as Minister Kasukuwere has told the PLC he will
amend the regulations in line with the report.
Motions
Debate continues on Hon Chikwinya’s motion on unconstitutional
and treasonous statements by Army and Police officers, with MDC-T
MPs calling for the offenders to be court-martialled and ZANU-PF
MPs defending the statements as personal views expressed by individuals
in the exercise of their right to freedom of expression.
Questions
19 written questions were listed for reply by Ministers on Wednesday
afternoon. One that has been on the Order Paper since November last
year, but remains topical, asks the Minister of State for State
Security, Hon Sekeramayi, to explain whether CIO officers are allowed
to hold office in political parties, citing the case of a Deputy
Director-General who is a ZANU-PF Central Committee member.
Coming Up – the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review: 26th July
The Minister of Finance is scheduled to present his Mid-Term Fiscal
Policy Review to Parliament in the House of Assembly on Tuesday
26th July. He has already said there will be no supplementary Budget.
Contempt of Parliament Complaint against Minister Chinamasa
The Speaker has told the House he will consider the complaint by
the Portfolio Committee of Mines and Energy that the Minister of
Justice and Legal Affairs “could have lied under oath”
when giving evidence to the Committee during its investigation into
the state of affairs at Shabani /Mashava Mines [SMM] [see the committee’s
report on the SMM saga – electronic version available from
veritas @mango.zw]
. If the Speaker finds that there is “a prima facie case”
– i.e. sufficient evidence to require an answer from Mr Chinamasa
– the next step would be the appointment of a Privileges Committee
to investigate the allegation and report its findings and recommendation
to the House.
Note: There
is a recent precedent. In 2007 a Privileges Committee was set up
to investigate statements made by Obert Mpofu, then Minister of
Industry and International Trade, when giving evidence to a Portfolio
Committee he was found guilty of “prevarication” and
fined.
Government Gazette
The Gazette of Friday 15th July contained no Bills and only three
statutory instruments – a collective bargaining agreement
for the printing, packaging and newspaper industry fixing salaries
and allowances for the rest of 2011 [SI 80] and Chinhoyi Municipal
Council by-laws – rents and charges []SI 81] and cemeteries
fees [[SI 82]. [Electronic versions NOT available.]
Veritas
makes every effort to ensure reliable information, but cannot take
legal responsibility for information supplied
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