‘Badly drafted’ PVO Amendment Bill has lapsed says legal think tank, urges govt to scrap it
By Anna Chibamu
THE Private Voluntary Organizations (PVO) Amendment Bill has lapsed and will need to be reconsidered, Veritas has said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa referred the bill back to Parliament during the 9th Parliament for reconsideration.
According to Veritas, the Bill lapsed long before the President had referred it back to Parliament and those Bills that had passed through the National Assembly and the Senate, but had not been signed by the President and published in the Gazette, lapsed when Parliament was dissolved just before polling day in the general election.
“Our reasoning was that, in terms of section 147 of the constitution, ‘On the dissolution of Parliament, all proceedings pending at the time are terminated, and every Bill, motion, petition and other business lapses’.
“A Bill that has passed through the National Assembly and the Senate, but has not been assented to by the President, is still a Bill and seems to be covered by the clear wording of section 147,’’ Veritas said in its publication last week.
It added that there was a general rule or convention applicable in countries with a parliamentary system such as Zimbabwe which stipulates that no Parliament should bind its successor, and hence all Bills, including those that are awaiting assent by the Head of State lapse when Parliament is dissolved.
“The PVO Amendment Bill lapsed when Parliament was dissolved on the 22nd August, immediately before polling day in the general election. As a result, there was no longer a Bill for the President to refer back to Parliament.
“The only course for the government to take, if it wants to proceed with the Bill, is for the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare to start all over again. The Bill cannot be revived,” said Veritas.
The think tank explained further that although Standing Order 171 of the National Assembly and Standing Order 162 of the Senate allow Bills lapsed at the end of a session to be revived in a subsequent session if the National Assembly or the Senate passes resolutions to that effect but those Standing Orders do not apply to Bills which have lapsed as a result of a dissolution of Parliament.
“The Standing Orders themselves say that the Parliament dissolved before elections was the Ninth Parliament of Zimbabwe. The one that has just been sworn in is the Tenth Parliament of Zimbabwe. It is a different Parliament and, by virtue of section 147 of the Constitution, it cannot be bound by the unfinished business of its predecessor.
“It is a fitting end to the Bill. It was a most unsatisfactory one: vague, badly drafted, and in many respects unconstitutional. The President himself had such serious reservations about it that he referred it back to Parliament. The new Minister should take the opportunity to reconsider it completely, perhaps even to scrap it,” added Veritas.
