Mugabe will block constitution without Kariba

He said he would instruct his parliamentarians to reject any document not anchored in the Kariba constitution. He accused the MDC of reneging on what he said was a binding agreement by the parties that they would all stick by the draft to guide the process, which is expected to be completed by October next year. We have the Kariba draft compiled by the three parties and signed on every page by representatives of the parties, Mugabe said. We stand by the Kariba draft. Zvese zvimwe izvi ndezvavo (anything else is their fault). The constitution will have to pass through parliament by two-thirds majority. We will not instruct our people in parliament to vote for anything else. And kana tadaro, if there is no new constitution that means the old constitution must continue.

The Kariba draft was authored by representatives of the parties in the resort town of Kariba in September 2007. Although reducing the term of the countrys presidency to a maximum 10 years, the document leaves Mugabes powers intact. The MDC says the Kariba draft was conceived in the context of the then looming 2008 elections and was meant to minimise disputes in the elections. The constitution-making process is key to the success of the unity government, which Mugabe said could be terminated in the next two years to allow the country to hold fresh elections. The current 1979 Lancaster House Constitution, derisively described by many as a ceasefire document, has been amended 19 times. Critics say the defective document is the cause of the current political crisis. which has allowed President Mugabe to serve multiple terms and further entrench his rule over the years.

The term of the inclusive government could stretch to five years if the new draft constitution falls through. Douglas Mwonzora, co-chair of the parliamentary committee on the making of a new constitution, told journalists two months ago that Mugabe was deliberately courting controversy in order to scuttle the process, which threatens his rule. Mugabes Zanu (PF) has been accused of continuously throwing spanners into the constitution-making process. Rowdy Zanu supporters disrupted a stakeholders conference on the making of a new constitution in July this year. They accused the MDC of trying to seek soft means of dethroning Mugabe.