Mutasa and Mliswa’s case to be heard on Monday

The case of former legislators Didymus Mutasa of Headlands and Temba Mliswa of Hurungwe West will be heard on Monday when Chief Justice Godfrey Chidyausiku will determine whether it should be handled on an urgent basis or not. The two are contesting their expulsion from Parliament and seek to bar any by-elections in the two constituencies. The Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front expelled the two from the party and asked Parliament to declare their seats vacant since they were no longer members of the party. Speaker Jacob Mudenda ruled in favour of the party. Mutasa and Mliswa argue that ZANU-PF did not follow the proper procedure of expelling them, so the decision by the Speaker to expel them is null and void. The Tsvangirai faction of the Movement for Democratic Change is also pressing for the expulsion of 21 legislators who left the party to form the Renewal Team, now part of the United Movement for Democratic Change, because they were elected on an MDC-T ticket. Mudenda ruled last year that he could not make a decision since the case was before the courts. The Renewal Team argues that the MDC-T is trying to hand over the seats to ZANU-PF because the party has vowed not to contest any elections until electoral reforms are implemented.

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