Zim draft charter curbs presidential powers
2013-01-30 07:49
Special Report
Chinese vice premier Wang Yang has urged Zimbabwe to ensure peace and political stability ahead of elections this year.
Harare - A draft constitution in Zimbabwe that paves the way
for an election this year curbs presidential powers and strengthens cabinet and
parliament, which have been weakened under veteran President Robert Mugabe's
rule.
According to a final copy of the draft charter obtained by
Reuters on Tuesday, the president will be required to exercise power in
consultation with the cabinet, with decrees requiring its majority backing.
The current constitution allows the president to issue
decrees alone that can have the force of law for up to six months.
The new document also limits the president to two, five-year
terms, starting from the next election. However this will not be applied
retrospectively, so Mugabe - who has been in power for 32 years - could
technically rule for another two terms.
Last week, the country's two most powerful parties -
Mugabe's Zanu-PF and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) of rival Prime
Minister Morgan Tsvangirai - said they supported the draft, virtually ensuring
its passage through parliament as early as next week.
If passed by parliament, it will be put up for a national
referendum between March and April, a crucial step before elections required
for this year under the power-sharing deal struck between Mugabe and Tsvangirai
after disputed 2008 polls.
Presidential powers to declare public emergencies and
dissolve parliament have been diluted in the draft by requiring two-thirds of
lawmakers to back any such measure in a vote.
Parliament can also be dissolved only for
"unreasonably" failing to approve the national budget.
Although the current constitution requires parliamentary
approval in the declaration of emergencies, it requires only a simple majority.
The president can currently dissolve parliament without parliamentary approval.
Some civil rights have also been expanded in the new
document, with clauses on freedom of the press, access to information,
political choice and activity as well as prisoners' rights.
Death penalty
The draft retains the ban on same-sex marriage in the
conservative southern African state. It also keeps the death penalty, but only
for "murder committed in aggravating circumstances" and makes
exceptions for women and people aged below 21 years or those above 70 years
old.
The current constitution allows execution of anyone above 18
for murder.
Mugabe, 88, has ruled the country with mostly a free hand
since its independence in 1980 from Britain and has been accused of hanging on
to power through vote-rigging. He says he will contest the next election
despite questions over his advanced age and concerns over his health.
The president forced the deferment by at least 10 years of a
clause in the new charter requiring candidates to nominate running mates who
would automatically succeed them should they be unable to continue in office.
Until that clause comes into effect, the party holding the
presidency can name a successor at the time that a incumbent is unable to
continue.
Some in Zanu-PF want Mugabe to hand over the reins to a
younger leader, but he has steadfastly refused to discuss succession, an issue
that has stoked factional disputes within the party.
Stiff challenge
The charter had looked in doubt last year when Zanu-PF tried
to oppose curbs on presidential powers and a strengthening of parliament.
Funding problems and constant bickering between the
coalition parties have delayed the adoption of a new constitution, initially
scheduled to be completed in 2010.
Mugabe, who had previously threatened to call a vote before
a new constitution had been agreed, has been held back by regional leaders
eager to avoid a repeat of the violent and disputed 2008 poll that was
condemned by much of the world.
The veteran ruler and his Zanu-PF face a stiff challenge
from the MDC, which says it will breathe fresh life into an economy that shrank
by an estimated 40% from 2000 to 2010 due largely to Mugabe's seizure of
white-owned commercial farms and what critics say has been economic mismanagement.
- Reuters
