The three parties in the inclusive government last Friday finally agreed on a final draft of the new constitution after almost five years of needless haggling.
NewsDay Editorial
The process had been marred by chronic delays and violence at public meetings when it started in 2009.
A new constitution will form the main element of key reforms that Zimbabwe badly needs to organise a credible election this year.
The draft has many progressive clauses that include the scrapping of provincial governors’ posts which are largely viewed as a waste of scarce national resources because the governors have reduced themselves to political commissars for Zanu PF rather than public servants.
Zanu PF had opposed devolution of power on the spurious grounds that it might encourage ethnic divisions and secessionism.
The governors, currently appointed by the President, would be replaced by provincial chairpersons to be chosen by the party with the majority of parliamentary seats in a given province.
The office of the Attorney-General (AG) will also be split into two with the AG concentrating on advising Cabinet. An office of the prosecuting authority will be held by the Prosecutor General.
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These are some of the issues that Zanu PF had strongly opposed claiming they were smuggled into the draft by its imagined enemies in the West.
President Robert Mugabe’s party had already started campaigning against the draft constitution with some of the Zanu PF hardliners claiming it was aimed at ending the 88-year-old leader’s political career. Zanu PF was also against provisions that would bolster the power of Parliament and set a 10-year presidential term limit. The draft constitution would also strip away presidential immunity.
Zanu PF’s spirited opposition to the draft had diminished hopes of a new constitution before the country holds fresh elections.
If the process had collapsed it would have been very tragic for the country because of the amount of money that was poured into the exercise.
It is against this background that the parties in the inclusive government must be applauded for putting national interests ahead of partisan considerations.
There is consensus that the document is not perfect, but it is nonetheless a giant leap in efforts to democratise this country. The draft will now be taken to Parliament before a referendum is held in the next few months. It is almost certain that the draft will be approved because there is consensus among the major political parties that drove the process.
More compromises will be needed in future as we prepare for fresh elections and the parties must draw lessons from the protracted negotiations for a new constitution.
