By Takura Zhangazha*
There is a game of musical chairs currently going on in our
Parliament. Using Section 129 (1k) of the new constitution, political parties that
have split or are in the throes of factional fights have decided to recall MPs
that they claim are no longer their members.
Zanu Pf has already written to the Speaker of the National Assembly to
recall Didymus Mutasa and Themba Mliswa with success. The MDC T has also done the same in a bid to
get 21 MPs from the breakaway faction led by Sekai Holland and Tendai Biti removed from the
legislature.
These actions as permitted by the constitution are not new
political developments as this is not the first time parties have sought to use
them. They have been used by both ruling
and opposition parties to get rid of leaders that no longer tow the
party or party leader's line as far back as the year 2000.
They also had the opposite effect of factions in political parties quietly agreeing not to
raise that spectre in order to share the money that the Political Parties Finance
Act grants them. Or in the latest case of
the MDC-T wanting a record 21 MPs recalled probably to have that money all to
itself, at least for a while.
All of this raises many questions as to the democratic significance
of the right to recall MPs by political parties. Add to this the by elections
that have to be held when such vacancies emerge and you have a country in perpetual
election mode.
Not that it’s a bad thing to get to vote for a member of
parliament before their initial term of office expires. It’s the reasoning behind this that is
problematic.
Political parties to all intents and purposes should learn
to solve their own problems internally.
To argue that they have the right to recall MPs merely because they have
violated one or the other party rule is to diminish their broader non partisan
role for their constituencies. Especially in our country where we have the
greater percentage of our legislators elected via geographical constituencies
and on a first-past-the-post basis.
A question that emerges is to whom does the MP primarily
belong? In terms of the law he/she
belongs to the political party on whose ticket they campaigned on. And there should no longer be any pretense
about this.
This also means that the executives of political parties to
all intents and purposes are interfering with parliament even after an election
campaign. This is regardless of the fact that the President of the country is not
elected by Parliament sitting as an electoral college, save for when he retires
or dies in between general elections.
So there is no virtuous reasoning behind this permission
give political parties to remove elected MPs from Parliament by way of a letter
coming from their administrative
arms. It has never added democratic value
and will not do so in the near future.
In most cases it has been used to
settle personal political scores without an iota of democratic
justification.
The full import of the recent actions by Znau Pf and the
MDC-T is that by elections are going to be the norm throughout the life of this
current parliament. And the electorate is
going to be harassed with solving personal squabbles via the vote or reconfiguration
of proportional representation candidates.
It will also mean that there will be electoral expenses for
the already strained fiscus which were not budgeted for in as many numbers. Perhaps
the only benefit for the many unemployed young Zimbabweans will be new
additions to their wardrobes by way of tickets and occupation of time via campaign
rallies and canvassing.
For the country it will only mean the continued politicization
of Parliament and its role as a rubber stamping authority of political parties.
MPs will have to self censor, avoid meeting with constituents that are deemed ‘enemies’
of their respective parties leadership while simultaneously singing praises of
the latter to protect their tenure. By
so doing, the MPs and their political parties of choice are demonstrating the
height of political arrogance and disdain for the electorate. Almost as though
they will be mockingly telling the people of Zimbabwe, ‘we don’t care, you will
vote anyway.’
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