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Herald Reporter—
AS 21 MPs elected to the Eighth Parliament on an MDC-T ticket were given the boot yesterday after their sponsoring party recalled them for forming the rival United MDC, uneasy lay the heads that wore the MDC crown in the 2013 harmonised elections. The Professor Welshman Ncube-led MDC failed to land any directly elected seat, but managed to send four legislators, two apiece, into the National Assembly and the Senate by virtue of proportional representation based on the party’s share of the votes cast.
MDC is represented in the National Assembly by Mrs Priscillah Misihairabwi-Mushonga and Jasmine Toffa, and in the Senate by Tholakele Khumalo and Joyce Ndlovu.
Now with the coming together of the Renewal faction led by Ms Sekai Holland and the Welshman Ncube-led MDC, it means the same conditions that led to the expulsion of the 21 MDC-T MPs apply in the MDC legislators’ case.
The only question being the proverbial, “who will bell the cat?”, that is who will write to Parliament seeking the recall of the four MDC legislators because in the case of the Renewal MPs, it was the rival Tsvangirai faction which did so.
National Assembly Speaker Advocate Jacob Mudenda refused to be drawn into the debate, choosing instead to refer to his judgment where he noted that a legislator could only be expelled in terms of provisions of the Constitution’s section 129 (1) (k), that requires the sponsoring party to write to Parliament
If the MDC is unwilling to write to the Speaker, legal experts said only a concerned, registered voter may precipitate the action.
Online Reporter