Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front Members of Parliament have decided to forgo luxury vehicles and other perks meant for legislators so that the government can direct its resources towards more pressing needs.
According to the Herald online this was said today by the ruling party’s chief whip Pupurai Togarepi who is also the party’s youth leader.
The move could put Movement for Democratic Change legislators in a fix as Parliament last month forced Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube to increase its budget by $44 million after members threatened they would not approve the 2019 national budget if their demands were not met.
Ncube had put aside $101 million for Parliament but they pushed him to increase it to $145 million.
Asked by one of his supporters to explain the “appallingly disgusting” demands by MDC MPs, Chamisa said they would be called to explain.
He said the demands were: “Out of turn with the MDC pro-people social democratic tenets. MPs must represent people not themselves as their primary task!”
ZANU-PF has therefore literally pulled off the rug from under the MDC’s feet if it fulfills its promise.
The ruling party has 180 MPs out of 270.
ZANU-PF candidates were given campaign vehicles last year and were asked to retain the vehicles including those who lost. They were, however, asked to remove the party insignia on the vehicles.
The government is under pressure mostly from civil servants to increase their wages at a time when it is trying to cut government expenditure.
Junior doctors have been on strike since 1 December and there is confusion about whether they have returned to work or not.
Their association insists they are still on strike until their demands are met but the government says all the doctors at provincial hospitals in Marondera, Gwanda, Bindura, Gweru and Mutare have returned to work.
Major hospitals in Harare and Bulawayo were still affected but some doctors had returned to work.
Some members of the public scoffed at the reports with one saying they are tired of government lies and compared this to reports by the government that the country has enough fuel when there was none at the service stations.
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