By James Gwati- Former Deputy Prime Minister Professor, Arthur Mutambara has organised series of protests against the Zanu PF-engineered constitutional amendments that sailed through the Senate on Tuesday
Senate on Tuesday passed the controversial Constitutional Amendment Bill No 2 with 65 votes in favour of the mutilation of the Constitution adopted in 2013 through a popular referendum vote while 10 voted against it.
The Bill went through after three senators from the Douglas Mwonzora-led MDC-T — Piniel Denga, Morgan Femai and Jane Chifamba — voted alongside Zanu PF, which needed only one vote to achieve a two-thirds majority.
The amendments include a provision for the scrapping of the running mate clause, which was supposed to come into effect in 2023 and another giving Mnangagwa unbridled power to appoint judges without subjecting them to public interviews, among others.
Mutambara yesterday took to microblogging site Twitter, accusing Zanu PF of “giving its detractors a big stick to whip its behind”.
“Zanu PF is begging for more economic sanctions,” he tweeted.
“Amendment No 2 gives its detractors reasons to maintain sanctions, constitutional violations, illegal judges, compromised Judiciary, the corrupt imperial presidency. Zanu PF is giving its detractors a big stick to whip its behind. It is pure idiocy.”
He called for political action to stop the constitutional changes.
“Amendment No 2: the fightback (1) legal action against Amendment No 1, (2) legal action against Amendment No 2, (3) stop further constitutional changes and stop Patriotic Bill, (4) political mobilisation against the two amendments, (5) make the two amendments an election issue for 2023 (make Zanu PF pay politically), (6) devise a strategy to stop Zanu PF 2/3 majority in 2023 — focus intensely on parliamentary seats, not just the presidency and (7) improve the quality of opposition (presidency and Parliament) candidates by putting a premium on (a) meritocracy, (b) technical competence, (c) proven capabilities, (d) ethical leadership, (e) strategic thinking, and (f) a track record of measurable achievements,” he
said.