Robert Mugabe og hans parti er uenige med oppositionen om hver en passus, der vil svække den alderstegne præsidents beføjelser – kamp til stregen om den nye grundlov, der for alvor skal gøre landet i det sydlige Afrika demokratisk.
HARARE, 9 August 2012 (IRIN): After three years in the making, Zimbabwe’s proposed 150-page draft constitution (forfatningsudkast) was deemed unacceptable by President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF party and rejected by civil society.
But it was endorsed by ZANU-PF’s political opponents.
The adoption of the new constitution is a critical step towards holding free and fair elections after the 2009 formation of the unity government.
The unity government emerged in the wake of the violent 2008 polls that killed about 200 people and saw ZANU-PF lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980.
Brokered by the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), the unity government allowed Mugabe to retain the presidency while appointing Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai as prime minister.
The arrangement required, among other things, a land audit (gennemgang af jordfordelingen), electoral reform and the drafting of a new constitution – all of which have become divisive issues.
A new constitution is seen as vital to create stability in a country that has suffered several bouts of political violence in recent years.
ZANU-PF spokesman Rugare Gumbo announced on 9 August, after a marathon meeting by its central committee, that it could not accept the draft constitution without changes to several clauses.
“The party is expecting the amendments to be factored in by Wednesday next week [15 August], when the politburo meets to finalize its position on the draft constitution,” he said.
Among their objections, Gumbo said the proposed constitution would dilute (udvande) the authority of traditional leaders, who have been strong supporters of ZANU-PF.
It would allow the party with the majority of parliamentary seats in a province to appoint provincial governors, previously the prerogative (eneret) of the presidency.
And who is to control the army?
ZANU-PF objected to the provision that parliament, not the presidency, would approve the deployment of troops both inside and outside the country.
The draft constitution, too, removes the presidential preserve (bemyndigelse) to appoint judges and instead allows for public hearings under the jurisdiction of a Judicial Services Commission.
ZANU-PF also criticised the draft’s proposed right to hold dual citizenship and expressed concerns about the reforming of the security services.
A draft constitution clause said that “neither the security services nor any of their members may act in a partisan manner, further the interest of any political party… [and] they must not be active members of a [political] party.”
High ranking defence force commanders have previoulsy said they would refuse to accept election results that did not return ZANU-PF to government.
A clause in an earlier draft – since removed – prevented anyone above the age of 70 or who had served two terms of office from running for the presidency. Mugabe is 88 and has been president for 32 years.
Mixed reactions
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