Former speaker of parliament and MDC-T national chair, Lovemore Moyo, has said that the opposition party faces a constitutional crisis if Morgan Tsvangirai steps down because it is not clear which of his three deputies will take over as acting president. Moyo said that Tsvangirai’s decision to appoint Nelson Chamisa and Elias Mudzuri as Vice Presidents in addition to Thokozani Khupe who was elected at the party’s congress has made the situation difficult and unclear. Moyo also said that Tsvangirai did not have the power to handpick his successor. The issue of who will succeed Tsvangirai has gained traction after the veteran opposition leader hinted that he may be stepping down soon.
Speaking to the online publication, New Zimbabwe, Moyo said:
The constitution already appoints an acting president who is the Vice President for a period not exceeding one year in which during that period an extraordinary congress would be held to choose the new president.
No one appoints, no one handpicks in terms of the party constitution.
That presents a dilemma in my view in the sense that when that clause was framed, we had only one deputy president but given that we now have 3 vice presidents, it now becomes a constitutional dilemma in terms of who among the three Vice Presidents will act immediately upon the incapacitation of the president.
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