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Zim: New constitutional plans
09/06/2007 20:54 - (SA)
Harare - The Zimbabwean government has published a draft bill to amend the country's constitution, provide for harmonised presidential and parliamentary polls and reduce the presidential term, a state-run daily said on Saturday.
The Herald newspaper cited a government gazette published Friday as saying the Constitution of Zimbabwe Amendment (Number 18) Bill also proposed to increase the number of elected lawmakers.
"The first major change is to harmonise the terms of the president and parliament and reduce the maximum length of a presidential term to five years," the newspaper said.
Currently the president has a six-year tenure.
When the president decides to dissolve parliament, he will automatically call for a presidential election on the same day as the parliamentary polls, according to the proposed law.
Respect for human rights
"The new house of assembly will have 210 members, 200 elected in the single-member constituencies and 10 appointed by the President, making more than 95% of the house directly elected," The Herald said, quoting the draft bill.
Zimbabwe's parliament currently has 150 members with 120 elected while the rest are appointees.
The constitution has so far been amended at least 17 times.
A government-sponsored draft constitution was rejected in a referendum in 2000, prompting the mass invasion of white-owned farms by pro-government supporters.
The proposed bill also seeks to provide for the creation of a human rights commission appointed by the president and parliament to "promote awareness and respect for human rights, development of human rights and freedoms, monitor and assess the observance of human rights and investigate rights violations".
Zimbabwe's human rights record has been tainted by incidents of beatings of opposition and rights groups by state agents.
The bill is expected to be submitted to parliament within 30 days.
Zimbabwean leader Robert Mugabe has been chosen in March by his ruling Zanu-PF party to stand again as its candidate in presidential elections in 2008.
- AFP
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