Zim draft charter cleared for referendum
2013-02-07 07:49
Special Report
Civil society groups in Zimbabwe say election delay would do little to dissuade President Robert Mugabe's supporters from voter intimidation.
Harare - Zimbabwe's parliament has been presented with a
long-awaited draft constitution, opening the way for a referendum followed by
elections this year in the southern African country.
The charter, which would restrict presidential powers, has
taken more than three years to produce due to bickering between President
Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the rival MDC.
The draft must become law to allow elections to take place
under a power-sharing deal between Mugabe's party and rival Prime Minister
Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change.
It was presented to parliament on Wednesday and Douglas
Mwonzora, a leader of the parliamentary committee that produced the document,
said it was not up for debate.
"This is a people's constitution and must go as quickly
as possible to the people," Mwonzora said.
Disputed polls led to widespread violence in 2008.
Under the draft constitution, the president will be required
to choose members of parliament to join a cabinet that would need to give their
majority backing to any decrees limiting civil liberties.
The current constitution allows a president to enforce
decrees for up to six months.
The president would be limited to two five-year terms,
starting from the next election. This will not be applied retrospectively, so
the 88-year-old Mugabe - in power since independence from Britain in 1980 -
could technically rule for another two terms.
Stiff challenge
Mugabe will contest the next election despite questions over
his advanced age and concerns over his health.
He will face a stiff challenge from the MDC, which is
promising to revive an economy that shrank by an estimated 40% from 2000 to
2010 due largely to Mugabe's seizure of white-owned commercial farms.
The draft constitution is backed by MDC and ZANU-PF, so it
is set to be debated and approved by the two-thirds majority required for it to
become law in parliament after a national referendum between March and April.
Funding problems that have dogged the writing of the new
constitution could delay the referendum and Finance Minister Tendai Biti said
he has approached donors for help.
Although the economy has recovered under the unity
government, most foreign donors have withheld money, pressing for wider
political and economic reforms.
The draft retains a ban on same-sex marriage. It also keeps
the death penalty, but only for "murder committed in aggravating
circumstances" and makes exceptions for women and people younger than 21
or older than 70.
- Reuters
