HARARE – Only the Supreme Court can say whether President Robert Mugabe breached the Constitution when he unilaterally appointed senior public officials, Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara and third partner in Zimbabwe’s tripartite ruling coalition said yesterday.
Mutambara, whose smaller MDC-M faction broke way from Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s larger MDC-T party, holds the balance of power in the troubled unity government.
He appeared to throw his weight behind Mugabe in the veteran leader’s wrangle with Tsvangirai over the appointments, saying the Prime Minister’s decision to write to the United Nations (UN) and several foreign governments advising them to ignore ambassadors posted there by Mugabe was ill advised.
Mutambara told Parliament: “Matters of constitutionalism and constitutionality can only be determined by our courts.
“If there are reservations about those appointments, the Supreme Court will sit as a constitutional court and make a determination. No one has challenged and there has not been a determination.”
The Harare unity government has in recent weeks looked increasingly headed for dangerous paralysis or even break up as Mugabe and Tsvangirai wrangle over the former’s unilateral appointment of several senior public office bearers without consulting the Premier as is required under the Constitution and their political agreement officially known as the global political agreement (GPA).
The GPA and a constitutional amendment enacted to cement the political agreement require Mugabe to consult Tsvangirai before appointing senior public officials.
But Mugabe has flagrantly ignored the requirement to consult Tsvangirai, unilaterally appointing his allies to key positions such as attorney general, central bank governor, court judges, ambassadors and provincial governors.
Tsvangirai has said his MDC would not recognise the appointments as they were made unconstitutionally and wrote to the UN and countries where Mugabe has posted ambassadors not to recognise the envoys.
The UN has declined Tsvangirai’s request not to recognise Zimbabwe’s ambassador to the world body, while the European Union has voiced concern over the dispute over appointments and Mugabe’s continuing unilateralism.
Mutambara, in a thinly veiled rebuke of Tsvangirai, said diplomatic communication between Zimbabwe and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs should handle other countries and world institutions such as the UN.
“Such interaction is done by the Head of State and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. As ministers, we do not come to this House to say what you want to hear, we come here to discuss policy issues,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s unity government has done well to stabilise the economy and end inflation that was estimated at more than a trillion percent at the height of the country’s economic meltdown in 2008.
But the unending squabbles between Mugabe and Tsvangirai over how to share executive power and the administration’s inability to secure direct financial support from rich Western nations have hindered efforts to rebuild the economy. – ZimOnline.
