Jonathan Moyo says those claiming Zimbabwe is headed for new elections are daydreaming

Information Minister Jonathan Moyo has dismissed reports that Zimbabwe could be headed for fresh polls saying those who thought so were daydreaming. There have been widespread reports in the private media that Zimbabwe could have new elections if the Zimbabwe African National Union-patriotic Front recalls 100 legislators said to belong to former Vice-President Joice Mujuru’s faction. Other reports have said that legislators loyal to Mujuru will gang up with those from the opposition to impeach President Robert Mugabe and thus force new elections.  “In view of the fact that Parliament is a key institutional pillar of the State in our constitutional democracy, government wishes to place on record that the frenzy media reports, which are falsely claiming that up to 100 ZANU-PF Members of Parliament face the ignominy of being recalled are notable only in so far as they reflect the wishful thinking of the authors of the reports,” Moyo was quoted by The Herald as saying. “But the poverty and irrelevance of the reports are exposed by the fact that the Constitution of Zimbabwe does not have a provision for recalling Members of Parliament. Such a provision would by definition involve the electorate. The only relevant provision is Section 129 (k) of the Constitution which is an expulsion, and not a recall clause and which stipulates that ‘The seat of a Member of Parliament becomes vacant if the member has ceased to belong to the political party of which he or she was a member when elected to Parliament and the political party concerned, by written notice to the Speaker or the President of the Senate, as the case may be, has declared that the member has ceased to belong to it’.  For this provision to take effect, a Member of Parliament should be expelled or resign from his or her political party,” Moyo said. “It is therefore false and preposterous for anybody to now claim that up to 100 ZANU-PF Members of Parliament are facing expulsion from the party, which is the only circumstance under which their seats in Parliament would become vacant. Not only is the claim false and preposterous but also the alleged number of 100 is a thumb-suck figure conjured up with no basis on the ground by some very desperate political day-dreamers.” Moyo said the figure of 100 was being touted to create the impression that Mujuru had 100 legislators backing her. No one, he said, owns any ZANU-PF Member of Parliament.

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