16. There will be a Secretary to Parliament. He and the members of his staff will be public officers.
17. There will be provision for the privileges and immunities of members of Parliament.
18. The President will have the right to address either House of Parliament or a joint meeting of both
Houses.
19. A Minister or Deputy Minister will have the right to sit and speak both in the Senate and in the
House of Assembly but will only have the right to vote in the House of which he is a member.
20. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, the Senate and the House of Assembly will be
empowered to regulate their own procedure.
Legislative Powers of Parliament
21. Subject to the provisions of the Constitution, Parliament will have full legislative powers for
Zimbabwe.
22. The legislative powers of Parliament will be exercised through Bills passed by the House of
Assembly and (subject to the House of Assembly's power to over-ride it after a period of delay) the
Senate, and assented to by the President.
23. Parliament will not be entitled, except upon the recommendation of the Prime Minister signified by
him or by another Minister, to proceed upon a Bill which imposes or increases taxation or imposes a
charge on public funds or authorises expenditure from public funds or compounds or remits a debt due
to the Government.
24. If the Senate does not approve within 90 days an ordinary Bill (that is a Bill not amending the
Constitution and not a Money Bill) which has been approved by the House of Assembly, the Bill may
be presented to the President for his assent. The Senate will not have the power to amend Money Bills,
and in the case of such Bills its power to delay will be limited to eight sitting days.
25. Save as is otherwise specifically provided in the Constitution the House of Assembly will decide all
questions by a simple majority of the votes of the members present and voting. The Speaker or other
member presiding will have neither an original vote nor a casting vote: if the votes are equally divided
on any question, the motion will be lost.
26. Parliament will be able to amend any of the provisions of the Constitution. Any Bill to that effect
must be published in the Gazette at least 30 days before first reading in the Senate or House of
Assembly.
27. The Senate will have the power to delay any Bill to amend the Constitution for 180 days, but at the
end of that period it can be sent to the President for his assent, even if it has not passed the Senate.
28. Except as provided in paragraphs 29 and 30, a Bill to amend the provisions of the Constitution will
require the votes of not less than 70 per cent of the members of the House of Assembly and, subject to
paragraph 27, the votes of not less than two-thirds of the members of the Senate.
29. The provisions of the Constitution relating to the separate representation of the White minority in
Parliament will for a period of seven years be amendable only by unanimous vote of the House of
Assembly and, subject to paragraph 27, not less than two- thirds of the members of the Senate. At the
end of seven years, these provisions shall be capable of amendment as in paragraph 28 above.
30. The protective provisions of the Declaration of Rights will for a period of ten years be amendable
only by the unanimous vote of the House of Assembly and, subject to paragraph 27, the votes of not
less than two- thirds of the members of the Senate. But a Bill which amends the Declaration of Rights
in such a way as to reduce the qualifications or exceptions to those provisions will be subject to the
procedure in paragraph 28 above.
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