Space constraints rock Parliament

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ABOUT 100 legislators in the Lower House of Assembly in the forthcoming Eighth Parliament, will have to stand while attending sessions.

ABOUT 100 legislators in the Lower House of Assembly in the forthcoming Eighth Parliament, will have to stand while attending sessions, as Parliament can only accommodate 170 of the 270 elected representatives.

Veneranda Langa

Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, told journalists in Harare yesterday the Senate will not be affected, since there will be 80 Senators, while the sitting space could accommodate more than 100 people. He said there would be 356 legislators, including five ministers appointed by the President, who will not have voting powers, as well as the Attorney-General, an ex officio legislator.

“We have space constraints for the National Assembly chamber, which can accommodate only 160 to 170 MPs and it will bring a lot of pressure to Parliament to accommodate the extra 100,” he said.

“In the meantime, the MPs who do not find seats might have to stand in the passages or they might have to sit in the Speaker’s Gallery or even wait outside the chamber until they come in to debate.”

Zvoma said there was nothing peculiar about the arrangement, as the British Parliament was initially designed for about 180 MPs, but had about 370, with some ending up attending sessions while standing.

Other accommodation problems that Parliament administration will have to solve are shortages of committee rooms, offices for MPs and ministers, as well as toilets. “We do not have enough committee rooms and other facilities such as toilets,” he said.

“Construction of the new Parliament at Mount Hampden has been on the cards since independence and we are waiting in anticipation that this project may finally take off.”

On the progress of renovations at Quality International Hotel, which will house legislators from outside Harare, Zvoma said some work had been done, but there was need of complete rehabilitation of the plumbing system, as well as repainting the structure.

He said Parliament was still saddled with a $750 000 debt in hotel bills accrued during the 7th Parliament session and that the institution still owed former MPs their sitting allowances.

Legislators from the outgoing Parliament said they were owed between $10 000 to $20 000 each in sitting allowances. Plans for the official opening of the 8th Parliament are said to be at an advanced stage, while draft standing rules and orders for both Houses had been prepared in line with the new Constitution.