Nassary loses parliamentary seat over long, unexplained absence

What you need to know:

Opposition party Chadema has lost one more parliamentary seat after the Speaker of the National Assembly announced that Arumeru East Member of Parliament Joshua Nassary had lost qualifications of being an MP to his failure to attend the required meetings and sittings and without seeking permission from the Speaker.

Dar es Salaam. Arumeru East Member of Parliament East Joshua Nassary has lost his parliamentary seat, after missing three consecutive Parliament sessions without informing the Speaker.
A press statement issued by the office of the National Assembly says it has written to the chairman of the National Electoral Commission, Judge Semistocles Kaijage, informing him that the Arumeru East constituency was now vacant because Mr Nassary has lost qualifications of being an MP.
The statement said Mr Nassary lost his seat after missing three Parliament sittings including the 12 held from September 4 to September 14, the 13th sitting held between September 6 and September 16 last year and 14^th sitting held between January 29 and February 9, this year.
“The decision by the Speaker is in accordance with Section 71 (1) (C) of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania which directs that a Member of Parliament shall lose his/her seat if he/she misses attending three consecutive parliamentary sittings without permission from the Speaker,” says a statement.
The applied constitutional section is also elaborated on the Parliamentary Standing Orders Article 146 (1) and (2) of January 2016.
The Standing Orders explains that attending parliamentary committee meetings and Parliament sittings was first mandatory requirement of the Member of Parliament and any MP who misses three consecutive meetings without informing the Speaker, the Speaker will write to NEC to inform them that there is a vacant seat.