MDC Alliance treasurer, David Coltart, said the Constitutional Amendment Bill Number 2 will only pass at Senate this afternoon if MDC-T led by Douglas Mwonzora supports it.
Coltart was responding to a tweet by MDC-T which informed of a senate session on the bill. In response, the former Education Minister, GNU era said:
This tweet says it all. The only tweet by the MDC-T re Constitutional Amendment Bill 2 being voted this afternoon is on the narrow issue of women getting a 30% quota. The Bill is much more than this & in essence dramatically increases Mnangagwa’s power.
If the vote passes this afternoon (which can only happen with support from the MDC T which this tweet clearly provides) then it will remove any remaining doubts about the MDC T – namely that it is a stooge surrogate party of ZANU PF.
The move to amend the constitution has received criticism from some stakeholders who argue that scrapping the running mate clause and giving the president the authority to appoint the Chief Justice and deputies is a major blow to democracy.
It appears from the tweet by the MDC-T that the reason for voting for the Constitutional Amendment Bill is to promote gender equality.
It can be observed, however, that Sections 17, 56 and 80 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe adopted in 2013 stipulates that there should be 50% – 50% gender equality.
Therefore, gender equality can be attained by merely implementing the constitution in its current form and not amending it.
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