By James Gwati- Former Deputy, Priminister Professor, Arthur Mutambara has urged the public to organise mass protests against Zanu PF for engineering constitutional amendments that have sailed through the Senate.

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 on his Twitter handle 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.