The Speaker of the National Assembly in Tanzania, Samuel Sitta, on Tuesday officially directed the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs to hold a meeting to discuss the fragile political state in Zimbabwe before advancing the matter in the House for deliberation.
The Speaker was forced to issue the directive to the parliamentary standing committee to discuss the matter following a special request by Kigoma North MP Zubri Zitto Kabwe during a sitting of parliament in the central city of Dodoma, the country’s administrative capital.
Kabwe submitted a special request to Sitta, urging the House to temporarily shelve planned activities so that legislators could deliberate on the situation in Zimbabwe, where opposition candidate Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) pulled out of a special run-off election against incumbent President Robert Mugabe after claiming the exercise would be unjustly manipulated in favour of Mugabe.
Tsvangirai on Monday took refuge in the Dutch embassy in Zimbabwe capital Harare for fear of attempts on his life, according to press reports.
“Mr. Speaker, Sir, I advanced a special request to you this morning asking for your permission so that Members of Parliament can use this opportunity to discuss the state of politics in Zimbabwe,” Kabwe said.
Sitta said it was appropriate for the parliamentary standing committee to hold a special discussion on the matter so that MP’s could be enlightened on the subject before the matter gets to Parliament.
When contacted by APA to explain the stance of the AU chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, State House spokesperson Salvatory Rweyemamu said “So far, the matter is being handled by the foreign affairs ministry. The President will be able to speak on Zimbabwe in two days.â€
Ministry of Foreign and International Affairs spokesperson Asah Mwambene said Tanzania was still waiting for the outcome of the Angola meeting, which started Monday in Luanda, before issuing its stance.
Source African Press Agency
