or her party, therefore, it may be dishonourable for him or her to remain in Parliament without going back to the electorate and seeking re-election under his or her new political affiliation. • If members know they will have to vacate their seats if they leave their party, they will be less likely to abandon the party whenever the political wind changes. Party discipline is therefore strengthened, making it easier for government and party leaders to predict whether or not legislation will be passed by Parliament. If by contrast there is a weak party system, members of the legislature are more easily bribed with money or political advancement to vote against their parties. Weak parties may therefore encourage corruption in the legislature. The contrary argument is that members of the legislature are not elected to serve the interests of a particular political party, but to serve their country. They must be allowed to act according to their own good judgement and conscience and not according to the dictates of their party bosses. None of these arguments can be regarded as conclusive, but it may be observed that the argument in favour of giving members freedom to vote according to their conscience assumes that politicians are all honest and upright and willing to follow their consciences. What privileges or immunities should the legislature and its members have? The privileges of a legislature are special rights that are conferred on the legislature as an institution and on its members individually, so that the legislature has the authority and independence to carry out its functions properly. Because these privileges are so important, some of them at least should be set out specifically in the constitution. The present Constitution merely allows an Act of Parliament to provide for the parliamentary privileges; in contrast, the South African constitution mentions of some of them. The most important privilege of the legislature as an institution is the power to compel officials to appear and give evidence before it and its committees. This privilege should be mentioned in the new constitution. The legislature should also have power to punish its members and other people for contempt, but its power should be limited to ensure that the punishments are reasonably moderate and that the range of conduct that constitutes contempt is not so great as to stifle legitimate criticism of the legislature and its members. At present, the main privileges and immunities enjoyed by members of the Zimbabwean Parliament are: • Freedom of speech and debate. This is a vital privilege because members must be free to engage in debate and raise matters in Parliament without fear that they will be arrested, prosecuted or sued civilly for what they say in Parliament. • Exemption from attendance at court. This exemption extends only so far as to prevent members from being kept away from their parliamentary business by having to attend court proceedings. • Immunity from arrest: This immunity, inherited from the British Parliament, applies only to civil arrest while Parliament is sitting. It does not apply to arrest for criminal offences. It does not therefore protect members from being arrested and 52