(MISA/IFEX) – The controversial Broadcasting Services Bill 2001 was passed into law on 3 April 2001. All Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) legislators, who are in the majority, rejected a second adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, opting instead for a speedy adoption of the bill, MISA-Zimbabwe established on 4 April. The opposition […]
(MISA/IFEX) – The controversial Broadcasting Services Bill 2001 was passed into law on 3 April 2001. All Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) legislators, who are in the majority, rejected a second adverse report by the Parliamentary Legal Committee, opting instead for a speedy adoption of the bill, MISA-Zimbabwe established on 4 April.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) opposed the move but lost out when the speaker conducted a vote. MDC member of parliament for St Mary’s Job Sikhala was thrown out of the House by the deputy speaker of parliament, Edna Madzongwe, as heated debate raged on in the House.
Before the bill was read, the leader of the House, Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa, moved a motion suspending parliamentary rules which forbid a bill to go through all the stages in one sitting.
Chinamasa also motioned that the adjournment of the legislature at 6:55 p.m. (local time) be set aside so that the debate could go on well into the night. The bill was adopted as law after its third reading.
Background Information
The Broadcasting Services Bill 2001 will replace the broadcasting regulations that the government promulgated in October 2000, under the Presidential Powers (Temporary Measures) Act.
The Parliamentary Legal Committee had declared some sections of the regulations unconstitutional but the House speaker dismissed the report on a technicality.
Any regulation or statute brought under the Presidential Powers Act has a life-span of six months, after which parliament either rectifies or dismisses it.
