DEBATE on Constitutional Amendment Bill No. 3 ran past midnight on Wednesday, with over 200 MPs contributing during the second reading stage in the National Assembly.
Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi said it was the most-debated Bill since independence in 1980.
“Since 1980, we have never had a Bill that has been debated like this one,” Ziyambi told the House after the session ended Wednesday morning.
“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.”
Ziyambi said only 19 MPs debated the first Constitutional Amendment Bill in 2017, and 18 debated the second in 2021.
“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.
Ziyambi said he had invited Home Affairs Minister Kazembe Kazembe, Local Government Minister July Moyo and Attorney General Virginia Mabhiza to contribute on issues under their purview.
He told MPs he would consolidate their views and respond when the House resumes sitting later Wednesday. The Bill will then proceed to the committee stage.
