A new law has been proposed in Zimbabwe which, if passed, would dock six months’ pay from lawmakers who walk out of parliament when the president is making a speech, a newspaper said on Tuesday.
Walking out while President Robert Mugabe makes a speech has become routine procedure for opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) lawmakers, who do not recognise Mugabe’s legitimacy as president.
According to the state-run Herald newspaper, the bill to amend the Privileges, Immunities and Powers of Parliament Act is aimed at ”putting to a stop the continued boycott of President Mugabe’s addresses to parliament by MDC legislators”.
The MDC and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai have rejected Mugabe’s victory in 2002 elections, which Mugabe won by 400 000 votes, saying the poll was rigged and marred by intimidation and violence.
Recently all the country’s lawmakers received a 600% pay increase, even as Zimbabwe goes through a serious economic crisis, with 70% of the workforce unemployed and inflation running at over 300% per year. – Sapa-AFP