Bill Watch 65/2019
Progress on Bills, but Not on Budget
1 December 2019
BILL WATCH 65/2019
[1st December 2019]
In the National Assembly 26th to 28th November
Both Houses will be in Session this Week
Last week, only the National Assembly was in session. The House
concentrated on:
• the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency Bill
• the Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Amendment Bill
• Veterans of the Liberation Struggle Bill
But no progress was made on 2020 National Budget Business.
This coming week, both the Senate and the National Assembly are due to sit.
The National Assembly, having been productive on Bills last week [see below],
will face an Order Paper headed by the Coroner’s Office Bill, followed by six
international agreements for approval, leaving the continuation of the 2020
Budget debate way down the list as item 8. The Senate will have at least one
Bill to consider, probably more [see below].
It is beginning to look as if Parliament will have to reassemble after the ZANU
PF Annual Conference [Tuesday 10th to Sunday 15th December] if the
National Assembly is expected to complete its part of Budget business before
the Christmas break. There will be four potential sitting days after the
Conference – Tuesday 17th to Friday 20th December – and there is ample
precedent for MPs having to work on the Budget the week before Christmas.
In December last year, for example, the National Assembly completed Budget
work on the 2019 Budget at 1 am on Friday 21st December, leaving it to the
Senate to rubber-stamp it when Parliament resumed at the end of January.
Last Week in the National Assembly
Motion for Fast-Tracking Bills and for Budget Business Passed
On Tuesday 26th November an attempt by the Minister of Justice, Legal and
Parliamentary Affairs to move his fast-tracking motion without having given
prior notice [i.e., without the motion appearing on the Order Paper] was
frustrated by an objection from the Opposition ranks. The next day his motion
was on the Order Paper for consideration after Question Time and Private
Members’ business, but putting it to the vote was prevented by the adjournment
of the House at 5.27 pm in the disorder that erupted when the Minister of
Minister of Health and Child Care abruptly left the chamber before MPs had
finished questioning him on his Ministerial Statement on the Status of the
Health Care System [see below].
In the calmer circumstances that prevailed on Thursday 28th November the
House approved the fast-tracking motion without further ado. The motion
suspends the Standing Orders normally applicable to sitting hours [6.55 pm for