Advocate Jacob Mudenda, the Speaker of Parliament, has ruled that the MPs that left the MDC-T to form UMDC will no longer be allowed to sit in parliament and their seats are now vacant which has set up the country for another string of by-elections.
The 21 MDC-T legislators, 17 from the National Assembly and four Senators have had their seats declared vacant after they were recalled by their party for forming a new political outfit,with Welshman Ncube’s MDC, which they call UMDC.
The legislators were under threat of losing their seats for some time after Zanu PF MP for Buhera West Oliver Mandipaka on 5 March raised a point of order in the National Assembly saying they were in the House illegally.
The MPs that left the MDC-T, among them former secretary-general Tendai Biti, crossed over to the MDC Renewal Team, before forming a joint political party with Welshman Ncube’s MDC, which they call UMDC.
Mandipaka suggested they should now be expelled from Parliament like former Headlands MP Didymus Mutasa and Hurungwe West MP Temba Mliswa.
