Zimbabwe 'to amend constitution'
21 September 2007The South African government has welcomed an agreement by Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu-PF party and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to make changes to the country's constitution ahead of next year's elections.
The Constitutional Amendment Bill, which has formed part of talks between the two parties aimed at resolving the political and economic crisis in Zimbabwe, has drawn support from both factions of the MDC, South African Deputy Foreign Minister Aziz Pahad told reporters in Pretoria on Wednesday.
The principal objectives of the Bill include reducing the presidential term from the current six to five years, starting from next year, so that it runs concurrently with that of Zimbabwe's parliament, senate and local authorities.
It also entails expanding both houses of parliament as well as making provision for the two houses to sit as an electoral college to choose a President should one die, resign or be removed from office before expiry of his term.
Pahad agreed with Zimbabwe's legal and parliamentary affairs minister, Patrick Chinamasa, when he said the agreement was "evidence of political maturity" among the parties.
Speaking in Harare on Tuesday, Chinamasa said he would, during the committee stage on Wednesday, introduce amendments to the original draft Bill that were agreed on during the ongoing negotiations and endorsed by the respective principals.
These included having all 210 members of Zimbabwe's House of Assembly directly elected by voters instead of the proposal that 200 be directly elected and 10 appointed by the President.
Membership of the Senate, Chinamasa said, would also be increased from the previously proposed 84 to 93 senators and would comprise 60 who would be elected directly by voters, 10 provincial governors, the president and deputy president of the Chiefs' Council, 16 chiefs and five senators appointed by the President.
The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission would take over the delimitation of constituencies, while all four elections - for the President, House of Assembly, Senate and local authorities - would be synchronized and held on one day.
In addition, Chinamasa said, the parliamentary legal committee would be consulted on the appointment of Zimbabwe's Public Protector, his deputy and the chairperson of the proposed Human Rights Commission.
Pahad said South Africa would continue to support the talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC, which are being facilitated by President Thabo Mbeki, after he was handed the task by the Southern African Development Community (SADC) in March.
The vice-presidents of the MDC factions led by Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara – Thokozani Khupe and Gibson Sibanda respectively – both told Zimbabwe's House of Assembly on Tuesday that they wanted to give Mbeki's facilitation efforts a chance.
Source: BuaNews
