Zimbabwe Parliament Changes Constitution, Extends Mugabe Powers

[brooklynite]

Source: Bloomberg

Zimbabwean lawmakers voted to pass changes to the constitution that will allow President Robert Mugabe to appoint the nation’s chief justice and deputy chief justice without consulting parliament or the justice ministry.

The amendment to the southern African nation’s highest law is the first since Zimbabwe’s political parties agreed to a new constitution in 2013. The ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front holds more than two thirds of the 270 seats in parliament and 182 lawmakers voted in favor of the change. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, which voted against the proposal, had asked for a secret ballot, which was denied by Speaker Jacob Mudenda.

Under the 2013 constitution, the president could only appoint a chief justice on advice after a series of interviews.

Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-25/zimbabwe-parliament-changes-constitution-extends-mugabe-powers

[saidsimplesimon]

1. Thank you brooklynite

He is following his leader, one DJ Rump.

[Wolf Frankula]

2. No, Muggsy has been like this since 1980

He's always acted like THE BIG MAN.

Wolf

[saidsimplesimon]

3. Thanks Wolf

"The Big Man" is a sloven, wreck of a human being. He maybe a clone of other infamous despots.

[Codeine]

4. With the loss of the old DU Mugabe Fanclub

articles like this drop like a stone.

[lapislzi]

5. He's going to be dead soon

Mourned by few, anarchy in his wake.

It's hard to imagine things getting worse for Zimbabwe, but they can, and they will.

[Igel]

6. Yup.

Strong men, liked by either side, tend to become the center of the government and make themselves indispensable. In some cases it's a tight-knit oligarchy.

Then they die (or something happens to them), and if there's not another strong man to take his place, there's chaos.

Milosevic wasn't as bad as Tito. Assad's not quite as bad as his father. Qaddhafi's gone. Saddam was the glue for Iraq.

When the KP SSSR lost its grip, there was El'tsyn. Which led to another strong man.

Democracy is as much a habit as a political system, a set of values and self-imposed limitations as much as it is freedom.