CAB 3 debate goes beyond midnight

The debate of the Constitutional Amendment Bill No.3 during its second reading phase in the National Assembly ended this Wednesday morning with a record number of MPs contributing their views on the proposed amendments to the supreme law of the land.

In his remarks after the debate ended, Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi commended the parliamentarians for their contributions, describing the debate as a record in the history of the country’s parliamentary debates since 1980, when the country attained its independence.

“Since 1980, we have never had a Bill that has been debated like this one in Parliament. We even had to bend the rules to allow honourable members to repeat what others had said. We sat until midnight so that every voice was heard.

“In 2017 when we had our first Constitutional Amendment Bill, only 19 members debated during the second reading speech.

“When we had our second amendment of the Constitution in 2021, only 18 members debated. On Constitutional Amendment Bill No:3, every member who wanted to debate did so. In other words, we had over 200 members debating,” he said.

Minister Ziyambi also told the House that he had also invited Home Affairs and Cultural Heritage Minister Kazembe Kazembe, Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo and the Attorney General, Mrs Virginia Mabhiza, to also contribute to the debate on various issues contained in the Bill and under their purview.

He then told the House that he and his team would consolidate the legislators’ views before responding to them later today, when the House resumes sitting.

They will then proceed to the committee stage.