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Parliamentary Sittings Resume - Bill Watch 39/2011
Veritas
September 21, 2011
Both
Houses of Parliament met today, Tuesday 20th September
On the
Agenda for the House of Assembly and Senate for 20th September
Today, Tuesday
20th September, the first working day of the Fourth Session of the
present Parliament,
the only item on the Order Paper in both Houses was the traditional
motion expressing loyalty to Zimbabwe and thanks to the President
for his Speech opening the current Session on 6th September. This
was all that took place in both Houses. Although under Parliamentary
rules of procedure, all pending Bills and other unfinished business
lapsed at the end of the Third Session on the 5th September, no
motions were proposed to revive them.
Lapsed Bills
that could be revived by resolution Standing Orders permit both
Houses to pass resolutions restoring lapsed Bills to the Order Paper
at the stage reached in the previous Session. The following Bills
lapsed on 5th September at the end of the last Session.
In the
Senate
- Public
Order and Security Amendment Bill. Mr Gonese’s Private
Member’s Bill has already been passed by the House of Assembly.
Senators heard Mr Gonese’s speech explaining the Bill on
2nd August, but debate was adjourned after Minister Chinamasa
told the Senate that amendment of POSA
was a matter under consideration as part of the Election Roadmap
negotiations and that further debate might undermine the Inclusive
Government. MDC-T has since rejected Hon Chinamasa’s claim.
Mr Gonese, who had consented to an adjournment on the Bill, is
expected at some stage to ask that it be restored to the Order
Paper.
In the
House of Assembly
Question Time
- Wednesday No written questions with notice are listed on Tuesday’s
Order Paper, but there is still time for new questions with notice
to be included on Wednesday’s Order Paper, and for unanswered
questions from the last Session to be restored to the Order Paper
at the request of the MPs concerned. MPs will have an hour to raise
questions without notice – which are limited to requests for
information on Government policy – if the responsible Ministers
or their deputies turn up. In the last Session Ministers’
attendance at Question Time was unsatisfactory, prompting an undertaking
from the Prime Minister to galvanise Ministers into compliance with
their duty to deal with backbenchers’ questions.
Prime
Minister’s Question Time
The new Session
will see the introduction of Prime Minister’s Question Time
in both Houses. Details have not yet been announced.
Motions: No
motions have yet been put down for debate.
Third
Anniversary of Global Political Agreement
Three years
have now passed since the GPA
was finalised and initialled on the 11th September 2008, followed
by the formal public signing ceremony at the Harare International
Conference Centre on 15th September. The agreement was in fact immediately
followed by further disputes which delayed the swearing in of the
inclusive government until 13th February 2009. Although there have
been some achievements such as the stabilisation [although not much
growth] of the economy and a marginal improvement in service delivery
– the whole three-year period has been marred by gamesmanship
and procrastination. The last year has been marked by talk of imminent
elections although conditions for credible, free and fair elections
have not yet been achieved. The national healing initiative has
not produced tangible results. The constitution-making process is
way behind schedule. Legal reforms to promote freedom of assembly
and freedom of speech have not been brought to Parliament. Security
sector development has not occurred. There has been no Land Commission
set up; no National Economic Council. These were all important measures
agreed to in the GPA which would have moved the situation in the
country forward instead of it being in the present state of uncertainty.
Run-up
to 2012 Budget
In just over
two months it will be time for the Minister of Finance to present
his budget for the 2012 financial year to the House of Assembly.
[The Budget for a financial year is almost invariably presented
to and passed by Parliament in December, just before the financial
year begins – only in exceptional circumstances can it be
presented later, but even then the Constitution
states that it must be presented before the end of January.]
Role of Portfolio
Committee in Budget formulation: The mandate of the House of Assembly
Portfolio Committee on Budget, Finance and Investment Promotion
includes oversight of budgetary matters. This responsibility is
recognised by section 28(5) of the Public Finance Management Act
which provides that “the Minister [of Finance] may through
the appropriate portfolio committee of Parliament, seek the views
of Parliament in the preparation and formulation of the national
annual budget, for which purpose the appropriate portfolio committee
shall conduct public hearings to elicit the opinions of as many
stakeholders in the national annual budget as possible.” Unfortunately
this is a weak provision: it does not oblige the Minister to enlist
the assistance of the portfolio committee or indicate how long the
portfolio committee should be given to hold hearings and formulate
its views.
Minister’s
promise of August launch of Budget Strategy Paper: When presenting
his mid-term Fiscal
Policy Review on 26th July, Minister of Finance Tendai Biti
referred to the Public Finance Management Act and told the House
of Assembly that the Government’s Budget Strategy Paper would
be launched in early August and tabled in Parliament. The strategy
paper would “facilitate broader participation and in-depth
debate on national priority issues” and its launching in August
would, unlike previous years, “allow more time for stakeholder
participation during the consultative and formulation phases of
the Budget, hence enriching the budgeting system.”
But Budget Strategy
Paper still not launched: Halfway through September the BSP has
still not been launched. Although it is ready for final Ministerial
approval, the Minister will not be able to present it this week
because he will be attending IMF and World Bank meetings in the
USA. This delay will make it more difficult for stakeholders, the
Budget Portfolio Committee and other Parliamentarians to participate
meaningfully in budget consultations and formulation. It is to be
hoped that next time around delays can be avoided. Perhaps to ensure
this the new Constitution should state the principle that Government
must undertake early consultations with Parliament and others on
budget formulation.
The
Portfolio Committee’s plans:
The Budget Portfolio
Committee is planning a programme of consultations on budgetary
issues. This will include public hearings in provincial centres.
Details will be give in due course.
Cabinet
Opposition to Public Hearings on Electoral Amendment Bill?
There have been
press reports, not confirmed, of a Cabinet decision, conveyed to
Parliament’s Standing Rules and Orders Committee by Justice
Minister Patrick Chinamasa, to “push Parliament” to
stop holding public hearings. This came after Parliament’s
public hearings on the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission Bill were
disrupted by serious disturbances, culminating in a violent invasion
of the last hearing in Parliament itself on 23rd July. Public hearings
around the country on the important Electoral Amendment Bill have
been expected for some time, but have had to be postponed while
the country’s political leadership discusses the problem of
violence. As neither Cabinet nor any of its members, not even the
President, has power under the Constitution to give binding directions
to Parliament about such matters, it is up to Parliament to decide
whether or not to respond to Cabinet’s wishes. No doubt Parliament
will take into account the security situation and police willingness/ability
to forestall or deal with a repeat of the July disruptions should
hearings be convened. The chairman of the Portfolio Committee on
Justice, Legal Affairs, Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs,
Hon Douglas Mwonzora, has said the committee wishes to persist with
its public hearings. The committee now awaits the results of discussions
between the MDC and ZANU-PF chief whips.
Government
Warning to Media Organisations not Valid
Media, Information
and Publicity Minister Webster Shamu was last week reported to have
said that “Government” will not hesitate to revoke the
operating licences of foreign and local media organisations accused
by the Minister of abusing journalistic privilege by “denigrating
the country and its leadership”. In fact, it is not for “Government”
or the Minister to revoke these licences. Under the Access
to Information and Protection of Privacy Act [AIPPA] it is only
the Zimbabwe Media Commission [ZMC] that has the power, after a
full inquiry, to cancel the registration of a media organisation
and it can only take such drastic action on limited grounds, which
do not include “denigrating the country and its leadership”
and even if this happened a media organisation would have the right
to appeal through the courts [AIPPA, section 71]. As an independent
constitutional commission ZMC cannot be ordered to cancel media
licences by the Government.
Update
on Legislation
Finance
Act Gazetted
The Finance
Act (No. 8/2011) was gazetted and came into effect on 16th September.
It enacts the changes to the main Finance Act, the Income Tax Act,
Value Added Tax Act, Customs and Excise Act and Revenue Authority
Act passed by Parliament following the Minister of Finance’s
Mid-term Fiscal Policy review. [Note: “As some of the Act’s
provisions are stated to be “with effect from the 1st September
2011” it should have been gazetted on or before the 1st September.
The late gazetting could prompt legal argument about the extent
to which those provisions can be given retroactive effect back to
1st September.]
Older
Persons Bill Gazetted
The Older Persons
Bill was gazetted on 9th September. It is designed to provide for
the well-being of older persons [defined as Zimbabwean citizens
65 or older who are ordinarily resident in Zimbabwe] by appointing
a Director for Older Persons Affairs, establishing an Older Persons
Board; and creating of an Older Persons Fund to be used primarily
for providing social welfare assistance to destitute or indigent
older persons. The Bill will be ready for presentation in Parliament
14 days after its gazetting, so it could be presented on 27th September.
[Electronic version NOT yet available.]
Statutory
Instruments [electronic versions NOT available]
High Court Fees
and Allowances – SI 107/2011, dated 2nd September, corrects
errors in the schedule of High Court fees and allowances set out
in SI 12/2011.
Competition
Act – Notifiable Mergers – SI 109/2011 and 110/2011
contain amendments to the Notification of Mergers regulations and
the Notifiable Merger Thresholds regulations.
Veritas
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legal responsibility for information supplied
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