The Sunday News
Harare Bureau
THE announcement of results of the July 30, 2018 harmonised elections paves way for the constitution of the Ninth Parliament upon proclamation of a date by President-elect Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Clerk of Parliament Mr Kennedy Chokuda told our Harare Bureau that his office would this week consult key stakeholders, including the Office of The President and Cabinet, on establishment of the next legislative assembly.
He said administrative issues towards the swearing in of President Mnangagwa, who won last week’s polls with 50,8 percent of votes cast, would guide opening of the First Session of the Ninth Parliament.
Zanu-PF won 145 National Assembly seats, the MDC Alliance 63, and the National Patriotic Front and an independent getting one each. According to Section 145(1) of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, “The first sitting of Parliament after a general election must take place at a time and date determined by the President, but the date must not be later than 30 days after the President-elect assumes office in terms of Section 94.”
Section 94 provides for the assumption of office by the President and Vice-Presidents on the ninth day after being elected; or in the event of a court challenge to the validity of the election results, 48 hours after being declared winners by the Constitutional Court.
Said Mr Chokuda, “For the moment we are waiting for this (post-election) process to finalise and see the conclusion, then things will start moving. For the official opening of Parliament, we will only know once we have been advised by the Office of the President and Cabinet because the date is set by his Excellency the President. The swearing in of the new MPs will be dependent on the date on which we are advised.”
National Assembly representatives are directly elected while Senators are appointed through a proportional representation matrix.
