Zanu PF is seeking to have Members of Parliament banned from bringing in private members’ Bills in Parliament and allow only those Bills from the Executive to be debated, it has emerged.
Mwenezi East MP Kudakwashe Bhasikiti (Zanu PF) yesterday confirmed his party wanted MPs to stop bringing private Bills to Parliament.
“Yes, I am saying that MPs should now stop bringing private Bills to Parliament as the role of the GPA (Global Political Agreement) supercedes that of private members, meaning the GPA acts on such Bills as per agreement amongst the three parties in government,” said Bhasikiti.
Private Bills are raised and brought to Parliament by legislators who are not ministers.
However, MDC-T chief whip Innocent Gonese, who is also Mutare Central MP, dismissed Bhasikiti’s statements saying such suggestions confirmed Zanu PF’s fear of reforms.
“We know that Zanu PF MPs are opposed to democratic reforms yet part of the Global Political Agreement says we must have the reforms, which is what the private Bills are striving to achieve,” Gonese said.
He said parliamentarians in Zanu PF feared free and fair elections which were only possible if reforms in the media and security sectors were implemented.
“We definitely don’t agree with Zanu PF’s position in light of what Bhasikiti said,” Gonese said.
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Political analyst Blessing Vava said: “Bhasikiti is not a person to take seriously as he clearly enjoys talking too much without making sense and Zanu PF knows very well that they will lose in elections, hence they are using all means available to choke democratic reforms.”
