ZANU PF powerful in parliament, but not absolute

Zwnews Chief Correspondent

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) has published the list of elected Members of Parliament (MPs) from the just ended polls, with ZANU PF emerging strong in the country’s ninth House of Assembly since independence.

Of the 270 total seats, ZANU PF has the total of 180 seats translating to two-thirds, followed by MDC-Alliance with 87 seats; the remainder which consist of only three seats has been equally shared between MDC-T, NPF, and an independent respectively.

Though the ruling party got ten seats less as compared to the 2013 polls, in which it garnered 197, the proportion means that ZANU PF is strong in the house in terms of voting rights, as it stands, to some extent, though not absolute, the party will dictate the pace.

However, according to constitutional watchdog VERITAS Zimbabwe, ZANU PF’s strength in the House of Assembly is subject to change, as over twenty electoral petitions have been lodged with the Electoral Court, challenging the results and successful petitions may change the distribution of the seats.

There are also party-lists and allocation of seats in both the Parliament and the Senate, in this case the ruling party has 35 seats and MDC-Alliance has 24, and what this means is that ZANU PF on two-thirds requirement of 54 seats (Constitution Section 344 (3), the party falls short with one vote to pass a constitutional amendment.

Party-list allocations are done provincially and are reached at depending on the number of voters supporting the parties that submitted the lists.

VERITAS says unlike in the presidential challenge, in this case ZEC’s results stands, and candidates whose election are challenged may still be sworn in and carry out their mandates as MPs until the court rules. The court’s ruling is not final, as if not satisfied by the judgement the aggrieved party may appeal to the Supreme Court.