THE Nationalists Alliance Party (NAP) has implored Zanu PF to abide by the Constitution and abandon plans to extend President Emmerson Mnangagwa's tenure beyond 2028, saying the stay cannot be prolonged based on his performance.
NAP president Divine Mhambi Hove made the remarks during a Press conference this week.
“From the first Constitution to the second one, we abolished perpetual rule, that was the desire of the people, and we created a Constitution that puts term limits,” he said.
Hove said the Constitution dictates that a referendum must be done to effect amendments that tamper with term limits.
“That is what guides us as a party instead of Zanu PF coming out to make such declarations without giving a clear path of how they intend to do it and violating what the people agreed on,” he said.
Hove said the amendment of the Constitution cannot be resolved at a conference of an individual party.
“Zanu PF should engage other political parties to say we feel that we need to amend the Constitution and give a reason,” he said.
“From the reason they are giving, they want to extend the term by two years because the President is doing well. It confuses us that as a nation we are changing goalposts from time to time,” Hove said.
- NoViolet Bulawayo’s new novel is an instant Zimbabwean classic
- Jah Prayzah, Zanu PF rekindles ‘lost love’
- Bank workers appeal to Ncube for tax relief
- Indosakusa marks 21-year anniversary milestone
Keep Reading
“We do not understand that extending the tenure by two years can make a project successful; the two years are suspicious. Why not add a sensible figure?
"We are a reasonable political party; we will engage Zanu PF and the nation on our proposal."
Hove said between 1980 and 2013, the Constitution was amended 19 times.
"We are not coming out clear about this constitutionalism thing. Our position is that we do not want to make such a rushed decision, whether an amendment is noble or not. We demand that there should be accountability to the people via political stakeholders to say that we think that our Constitution must be amended for a certain type of reason,’’ he said.
Hove said Mnangagwa must not remain silent when his ministers are clamouring for the 2030 agenda. He said Mnangagwa must call his ministers to order because they are violating the Constitution.
