Speaker to rule on MDC MPs

Zvamaida Murwira Senior Reporter
Speaker of the National Assembly Cde Jacob Mudenda is expected to rule on the status of MDC-T legislators who defected to the MDC Renewal and formed another party together with the Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC.

The pending ruling followed a point of order raised by Buhera West MP Cde Oliver Mandipaka (Zanu-PF) yesterday that those MPs from the MDC Renewal led by Mr Tendai Biti should be expelled after they abandoned MDC-T leader Mr Morgan Tsvangirai under whose ticket they came to Parliament.

Cde Mandipaka said their case was similar with that of expelled Headlands MP Mr Didymus Mutasa and Hurungwe West MP Mr Temba Mliswa who were expelled from the Chamber after Zanu-PF wrote to the Chair that the duo no longer represented the revolutionary party’s interest in the August House.

He said those MPs from the MDC Renewal have since formed another party with Prof Ncube called United MDC in breach of the Constitution which required that a person should cease to be a legislature once he no longer belonged to a political party that sponsored him or her to become a Member of Parliament.

“They have betrayed Morgan Tsvangirai to form MDC Renewal,” said Cde Mandipaka.

“We are alive to the fact that MPs who were originally in the MDC-T have since formed UMDC. We want to find their political fate.”

Stand-in Speaker of the National Assembly, Cde Reuben Marumahoko initially said with respect to Mr Mutasa and Mr Mliswa, it was Zanu-PF that had written a letter to Parliament.

Cde Mandipaka and other legislators shouted that Mr Tsvangirai had written a letter to the Speaker recalling the MPs a long time ago.

It was at that stage that Cde Marumahoko conferred with staff of Parliament before he announced that the Chair will make a ruling in due course.

On Tuesday, Mr Mutasa and Mr Mliswa were expelled from Parliament after Cde Mudenda upheld a letter written by Zanu-PF secretary for administration Cde Ignatius Chombo that the duo no longer represented the party’s interests. Cde Mudenda has in the past declined to make a determination on the feud on MDC formations, urging them to approach the courts.