ED FACES GLOBAL RIDICULE, SAYS MWONZORA newsdzeZimbabweNewsdzeZimbabwe

ED FACES GLOBAL RIDICULE, SAYS MWONZORA newsdzeZimbabweNewsdzeZimbabwe

The campaign to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s term could make him an international laughingstock, further undermining Zimbabwe’s democracy and isolating the country, MDC leader Douglas Mwonzora has warned.

Mwonzora’s comments come amid heated debates over the so-called “Proposal 2030”, which allegedly seeks to extend President Mnangagwa’s term by two years until 2030 or even allow for an additional third term, which could keep him in power until he turns 91.

“President Mnangagwa has sworn to respect and defend the Constitution, and Parliament has sworn to do the same. After the 2023 elections, we heard some people within ZANU-PF talking about 2030, indicating that they want to extend President Mnangagwa’s term by two years from 2028. This It includes asking the president to retract his word, accusing Mnangagwa of risking his credibility

“When interviewed in the United States by Christiane Amanpour (CNN’s chief international anchor), Mnangagwa made it clear that term limits were a provision he would respect. In China, the president said he would respect term limits. He said it was ‘constitutional and a lawyer’. If you back down from that, you are It makes the president an international laughingstock, saying one thing and doing another.

Mwonzora stressed the importance of Zimbabwe’s 2013 Constitution, describing it as a product of national consensus, which includes presidential term limits to prevent prolongation of rule.

He added, “The Movement for Democratic Change has made clear its position that it does not support the desecration and random change of the Constitution, which serves its self-interests.”

“In 2013, Zimbabweans across political divides completed the constitution-making process and arrived at a people-led, democratic constitution. 93% of Zimbabweans voted for this constitution.

Mwonzora stressed that the constitution preserved the executive presidency and agreed that the president would serve for a term of five years and seek re-election for another five years.

“This was a national consensus, and even ZANU-PF agreed with it. At the time, Zimbabweans were clear in their desire to avoid the long reigns of President Robert Mugabe, who ruled for more than 30 years,” the MDC leader said. .

In order to preserve the dignity of former presidents after they remain in office, Mwonzora said the constitution guarantees their benefits.

He pointed out, “To ensure that the president is not harmed, we went on to say that the former president will receive the same as the current president, and therefore his terms of service will remain the same.”

However, Mwonzora expressed dissatisfaction with the post-2023 election discussions within Zanu PF about extending Mnangagwa’s term.

“After the 2023 elections, we started hearing some people within ZANU-PF talking about 2030, indicating that they want to extend the president’s term by two years from 2028 or add another term,” he said.

“Their logic is that the president’s performance has been very good and there was an explicit request to extend his term, add another term so that the president would hold office for 15 years,” he added. “We fundamentally oppose this move.”

The leader of the Movement for Democratic Change questioned the logic of extending President Mnangagwa’s term given his advanced age.

“Let’s look at the facts of our president. President Mnangagwa is 82 years old. By the time his term ends in 2028, he will be 86 years old. If we give him five more years, he will be 91 years old when that period expires. “There is no justification for extending the term of someone of that age,” Mwonzora said.

He added: “After the end of his (second) term, the president must, of course, return to his home, write his memoirs, meditate and rest. Zimbabwe does not suffer from a shortage of manpower necessary to manage the affairs of this country. “We need new blood in this regard.”

Mwonzora also warned that amending the constitution in this way would set a dangerous precedent.

“This creates a dangerous precedent – today we say let us extend one term or two years because Mnangagwa has done a good job. Next time we will say let us extend Douglas Mwonzora for life because he has done a good job and there will be no end,” he said.

He added: “We will slide further and further into the political abyss, and this opening of dangerous precedence is not welcome.”

The opposition leader said extending Mnangagwa’s rule would undermine the constitution and international best practices.

“Constitutions are built on the basis of distrust of politicians,” Mwonzora said.

“The basic principle is that the president is elected and holds office for a limited term, after which he can serve the nation in positions other than president, but international best practice is also that when there are term limits, they are respected.

“Look at (former US President Barack) Obama. He was a very popular president, but when his eight years were up, he was gone. Making this amendment would put us in contravention of basic constitutional principles, best practices and international agreements.

Mwonzora further warned that any such amendment would deepen Zimbabwe’s international isolation, noting that the country was already suffering from international isolation over governance issues.

He added how the Commonwealth, which Zimbabwe wants to rejoin, has raised concerns about these proposed constitutional changes.

Mwonzora concluded his speech by warning against returning to Zimbabwe’s past.

“Zimbabweans have rejected long-term rule as a result of their experiences under the so-called ‘First Republic’ and this amendment will return us to the situation that existed before or during the end of the ‘First Republic’ and there is no reason why we should “With that.” Site




Source link

Previous post MLISWA WITHDRAWS ZIFA URGENT CHALLENGE newsdzeZimbabweNewsdzeZimbabwe
Next post WIFE STABS HUSBAND TO DEATH newsdzeZimbabweNewsdzeZimbabwe

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *