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proceedings when the House resumes sitting to elect the new presiding officer, Clerk of Parliament, Mr Austin Zvoma has said.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Zvoma said adequate security measures would be put in place to restrict the voting process to only eligible members.
“Mr Moyo will not be among the members who will participate in voting but he is eligible to stand as Speaker, but during the election, he will be barred from entering the Chamber as he is a former Member of Parliament.
“The Clerk will put adequate measures for this,” Mr Zvoma said.
Mr Moyo was elected House of Assembly Speaker on August 25 2008.
He was, however, dethroned on March 10, after the Supreme Court ruled that his election was marred with irregularities.
This followed an appeal by Tsholotsho North legislator Professor Jonathan Moyo to quash Mr Lovemore Moyo’s election.
Mr Zvoma said following extensive consultations to understand the legal implications of the Supreme Court ruling nullifying Mr Moyo’s election, he concluded that Mr Moyo ceased to be a legislator.
Mr Moyo, he said, could not expect to have his constituency seat reserved for more than 30 months while waiting to have an outcome of a court challenge by Prof Moyo.
“That would suggest Lovemore Moyo was holding both the position of Speaker and MP, since the 25th of August 2008,” he said.
Mr Zvoma said until it was proven otherwise in a court of law, he will continue holding the view that Mr Moyo ceased to be MP for Matobo North when he became Speaker, considering the long period he executed duties as the presiding officer of the Lower House.
He said he had since written to President Mugabe updating him on what transpired and what his office was doing to comply with the Supreme Court judgment.
“The Clerk has written to His Excellency, the President for purposes of consultation as the President is part of the legislature telling him what has happened and why it is happening like that and to reassure him that things will be done properly.
“So I have consulted the President and have also included legal advice and will announce the dates for the election of Speaker in due course,” Mr Zvoma said.
He slammed MDC-T secretary-general Mr Tendai Biti for failing to have an appreciation of the law by claiming that the Clerk of Parliament had no authority to move the date of sitting by the House forward.
“I am disappointed that a person like Minister Biti, a lawyer chooses to react emotionally and not rationally by seeking to denigrate the person of the Clerk on a flawed basis and interpretation of the implication of the Supreme Court ruling by misleading the public that the Clerk is flouting the law by varying the dates to which the House had adjourned,” he said.
Mr Zvoma said it was critical to note that the Supreme Court judgment superseded the sitting of the House on March 22 2011.
As the Clerk, in the absence of a legitimately elected Speaker, he said, he had lawful authority to defer the sitting of the Lower House.