Several MPs were injured when anti-riot police stormed parliament Tuesday to turf out CCC legislators who were defying an order to vacate the legislative house by national assembly speaker Jacob Mudenda.
For nearly two hours, parliament was a battle zone after Mudenda announced the recall of 24 opposition lawmakers at the behest of Sengezo Tshabangu, who claims to be interim CCC secretary general.
Fifteen of the recalled lawmakers are national assembly members while nine are senators.
CCC MPs adamantly rejected the position insisting the recalls were illegal.
Police sought reinforcement from their anti-riot colleagues who eventually helped remove the over 100 opposition MPs from the legislative chamber.
Several MPs were injured after being attacked with truncheons and some left with torn clothes, said Mkoba MP Amos Chibaya.
Chibaya said the MPs would meet party leader Nelson Chamisa on Wednesday to chat the way forward.
“This person called Tshabangu is not even on our database. He is not even a member of our party. There is no way Tshabangu can recall our Members of Parliament,” Chibaya said.
CCC, the only opposition party making up Zimbabwe’s parliament, is considering withdrawing all its 103 MPs and 27 Senators in protest over the recalls.
Chamisa says Tshabangu is an impostor.
The opposition chief tried to stop the recalls through an October 6 letter to Mudenda which the Zanu PF politician ignored.
After all the opposition MPs had been ejected, Mudenda announced they were now banned for the next six sessions and would each lose two months’ pay.
Writing on X after the skirmishes in parliament, Chamisa said Zimbabwe is “in a deep political crisis as a result of a flawed and disputed election”.
He added: “Partisan capture of state institutions is criminal. Zanu PF is not Zimbabwe, and Zimbabwe is not Zanu PF. Parliament is supposed to make laws and not break them. Zimbabwe shall be free.”
The expulsion of party members from parliament barely a month from their election is viewed as a brazen act of provocation and adds pressure on Chamisa who is already at pains on how to react to alleged poll fraud, continued incarceration of party politician Job Sikhala and a host of state sponsored transgressions targeted at opposition activists.
Some opposition supporters want the opposition to roll out protests against the Zanu PF led government.
Source ZimLive
