We’ve a circus for a parliament – Makebi
By Mast Reporter
THE current Parliament under Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti is circus a circus which has deliberately failed to respect the Constitution, Patriotic Front (PF) president and Pamodzi Alliance presidential candidate Makebi Zulu has said.
On Sunday Mutti ruled that opposition members of Parliament (MPs) who had publicly announced their support for President Hakainde Hichilema and the United Party for National Development (UPND) had not violated the law by continuing to attend the business of the House.
Ruling on a point of order, she said there was no evidence that they had defected to the UPND had merely expressed their intention to do so.
“That’s a circus. I listened to that particular ruling, that indeed is a circus,” Zulu said.
He said Mutti’s ruling that the affected MPs had not written to the Clerk of the National Assembly declaring that they had joined the UPND.
But Zulu said the ruling justified the calls from the people for a change of government.
“And that is why we’re saying that we need to build strong institutions that are not dependent on individuals because what has been seen is an erosion of integrity, an erosion of morality,” he said.
“Even members of Parliament, how do you as a member of Parliament say you have defected to the ruling party and the next day you show up in Parliament? I must commend Hon [Chanda] Katotowe for the decision that he made because he knows the consequences of abrogating the very Constitution that we have given to ourselves.”
The decision by Mutti to allow the MPs who had crossed the floor to continue participate in making laws was a breach of the Constitution.
“Now this is a constitutional breach that we are looking at. It is not for the UPND or indeed the Speaker to enhance or to look at what serves the interests of the UPND in this case. It is what does the law say? What have we chosen to be our governing rules? When a person crosses the floor, what do we do in those circumstances? You can’t say there is no evidence,” Zulu said.
When it was in public domain, there were certain things that were well-established facts, certain things that should be considered.
“In law we say you take judicial notice of certain circumstances. You can’t necessarily say that I am not aware or indeed it has not been brought to my attention. When it is in the public domain, it has an effect on the integrity of the person that is making that decision and also the integrity of the persons that are involved in those acts,” Zulu said.
“Did they call them? Did they answer to that question? Did they watch the video? The Speaker does claim that she stays in Jupiter or Mars every day, goes and comes back and doesn’t know what is going on around. But even then, when a point of order is raised in that particular manner and there is need for further evidence, go for it if you think there is need for further evidence.”
He was sad that the country had had strange rulings from Mutti and noted that all the rulings that had been strange were those that were skewed towards supporting the ruling party.
“That’s what it’s been. You saw how this very Speaker was dancing against the decorum of the house when Bill 7 was passed. Is that what you expect of a speaker? Is that what you expect a speaker to be doing? Where a question is asked to the Executive and the Executive doesn’t answer, it’s the Speaker who’s answering that question,” Zulu said.
He asked Zambians whether that was the kind of parliament they wanted for yet another five years.
“The kind that changes rules to be able to remove a member of Parliament who has been elected by the people? How are you going to have such rules? You dream up of rules where absenteeism now calls for removal from the House when the punishment is only 30 days without paying,” Zulu said.
