Saturday, August 30, 2008

ZANU-PF supporters denounce MDC MPs

ZANU-PF supporters denounce MDC MPs
By George Chellah in Harare, Zimbabwe
Saturday August 30, 2008 [04:01]

SCORES of ZANU-PF supporters on Thursday afternoon demonstrated against the behaviour of opposition MDC-Tsvangirai legislators who heckled and jeered President Robert Mugabe during the official opening of Parliament on Tuesday. The ruling party supporters that gathered at the ZANU-PF headquarters in Harare chanted and sang songs denouncing the MDC members of parliament.

Some supporters were even calling for the suspension of the Zimbabwean Parliament until there was an indication or promise of taking parliamentary business seriously from the opposition MDC.

Speaking to the demonstrators, ZANU-PF secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa said the ruling party leadership was not amused by the opposition parliamentarians' conduct in the House on Tuesday.

Mutasa said the behaviour of the opposition MDC parliamentarians was very bad and that the party was not happy.

"They always strive to destabilise systems of governance in the country and we need to be strong against such machinations," he said.

Mutasa called upon ZANU-PF to be prepared for anything from MDC-Tsvangirai faction as it attempts to make the country ungovernable.

"We should be prepared and when they plan to disturb government programmes, we should always be prepared to counter such actions," he said.

Mutasa urged the supporters to rally behind the ruling party in the face of the threat posed by the MDC and those backing it.

He said the ruling ZANU-PF must be strong against MDC actions.

"We need to deal with such activities by the opposition members," Mutasa said.

There was chaos last Tuesday during the official opening of the First Session of the Seventh Parliament by President Mugabe as opposition MDC members of parliament jeered and continually disrupted the President's opening speech.

MDC members had earlier threatened to boycott the official opening of Parliament but they were made to change their mind on Monday after they won the posts of Speaker and deputy speaker.

The official opening was at 12:00 hours but as late as 11:00 hours, opposition parliamentarians were still locked in a meeting trying to agree on whether to attend the event or not.

They later agreed to attend but also to disrupt the President's speech.

When President Mugabe walked into the Chamber, opposition legislators remained seated. And when he begun reading his 19-page speech, he was constantly interjected throughout the 30 minutes he spent reading it.

President Mugabe's voice was drowned in the severe noise from the opposition who jeered, sung songs against ZANU-PF, shouted at him and even yawned loudly.

ZANU-PF members tried to respond by shouting back but even in the chaos that ensued, President Mugabe continued reading even though no one could hear him.

At the end of the speech ZANU-PF members burst into their trade mark song Zimbabwe ndeye ropa ( Zimbabwe was founded on blood) and MDC members responded with a song (ZANU ya ora (ZANU-PF is rotten).

The noise was deafening as parliamentarians tried to outdo each other in song, until ZANU-PF members attempted to walk out of the chamber only to be beckoned back by Emmerson Mnangagwa.

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1 Comments:

At 2:46 PM , Blogger MrK said...

The MDC does not know how, nor does it want to govern. They were created by the west to destroy democracy (the free expression of the will of the Zimbabwean people) in Zimbabwe. I hope that every single law is thrown at these thugs. I also hope that ZANU-PF is busy recruiting all the more rational members of the MDC, so they can form a government without them, and evict from parliament anyone who will distrupt the proceedings.

 

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