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sanctions remain in place, non-constituency Senator Aguy Georgias has said.
Sen Georgias, who is the Public Works Deputy Minister, said Zimbabwe’s economy continued to shrink due to the debilitating embargo.
He said this in Senate last week during a motion in which he called on the inclusive Government to take a class court action against the European Union over sanctions on Zimbabwe.
Sen Georgias’ presentation came as EU Member of Parliament Geoffrey Van Orden last week said sanctions will remain in place and there was a possibility of extending them.
The EU Council started meeting last week and is expected to make an announcement this week.
In Harare, Sen Georgias said, “It will not matter what good policies we put in place or measures thereof to turn around the economy.
“As long as the sanctions and restrictive measures remain in place, and we continue to suffer lack of international goodwill there can be no effective remedy,” he said.
“To my mind, therefore, as leaders, more so as Senators, Parliamentary elders entrusted with guiding the national conscience through oversight, we need to play our role to re-engage the western powers.”
Sen Georgias said it was critical to vigorously fight negative perceptions of Zimbabwe.
“It is, therefore, in our common interest, for our common good as Zimbabweans, that we begin to project a new and fresh image of ourselves, as united people, at peace with one another, committed to confronting and solving peacefully, all challenges that we face,” he  said.
He called on the House to adopt the motion so that the inclusive Government files a class action suit against the EU at the EU Court of Justice of First Instance in Brussels, Belgium.
The senator chronicled his experience in 2006 when he was harassed at Heathrow Airport, UK on his way to the United States where he was going to receive an award on behalf of his company, Trinity Engineering.
“Secondly, last year, I was not able to travel to New Zealand to attend my daughter’s funeral due to sanctions against Zimbabwe.”
He noted that sanctions had a negative impact on the most vulnerable sectors of society.
“The sanctions have been imposed without the authority of the Security Council of the United Nations.
“As such the sanctions are illegal. Our nation has been condemned without any hearing and in violation of core principles of international humanitarian law.”
The EU imposed sanctions on Zimbabwe in 2002.
A study by the bloc a few years ago to assess implementation of the Cotonou Partnership Agreement — which governs relations between the Africa-Caribbean-Pacific bloc and the EU — admitted that sanctions were imposed to try and influence the 2002 Presidential elections, which President Mugabe won nonetheless.