HARARE - The end of the public outreach on a new constitution this weekend marks a key milestone in a long struggle to whittle down the massive powers of the presidency, although it now will take up to eight months to draft the new charter before a referendum.
The public meetings stalled last month after a supporter of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC was bludgeoned to death when shock troops who backed President Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) party stormed a meeting in Harare. Cash shortages saw the hearings mothballed for a month, only resuming last Saturday. Tsvangirai has put the blame squarely on military and security forces. And this last weekend, there were isolated incidences of violence, with the MDC reporting that one of its supporters was beaten and stabbed by supporters of Zanu (PF) on Saturday at a constitution meeting in Harare. “An MDC supporter, Jonsaya Manyere, is battling for his life… after he was assaulted before being stabbed in the head by a group of Zanu (PF) hooligans,” the party said.
The stabbing was the only violent incident reported as public consultations resumed under a heavy police presence, although the party reported about six arrests of its activists. Journalists Andrison Manyere and Nkosana Dlamini were also detained as authorities tried to cast an iron curtain around the process.
Paul Mangwana, one of the leaders of the outreach programme, said that Copac would start collation of data from the public outreaches, then would hold thematic group discussions from November to December 22. In January 2011, the actual drafting process would begin and by March 31, 2011, an All Stakeholders conference will be held to put the draft to a public test. And by April 30, 2011, Copac will report its findings back to Parliament.
“By June 30, 2011, there will be a referendum,” Mangwana said. He also noted that this proposed schedule assumes that everything goes according to plan and is dependent on the availability of funds and how they are released. Throughout the public hearing campaigns, Tsvangirai was more assertive in rallying Zimbabweans to express their opinions which will go into the draft charter, saying it was a key step in the democratisation agenda and creating conditions for a free and fair vote that would end Zanu (PF)’s unbridled 30 years in power. But after Tsvangirai called for a negotiated Constitution saying the public hearings were a sham because of the violence and intimidation, Mugabe picked up the slack and became an enthusiastic leader, accusing the MDC of trying to subvert the will of the people.
Political commentators say the energy and enthusiasm displayed during those constitution hearings by Mugabe shows the veteran leader wants the new constitution to define his legacy. “I think he is aware of the need to leave a better legacy,” said Ronald Shumba, a political commentator. “Part of me thinks that he worries about being remembered as the president who presided over the economic dislocation of the past 10 years and the political murders of 2008. But more importantly, he is afraid of losing the next election.”
Zimbabweans hope a new charter, replacing one inked in 1979 before independence from Britain, will strengthen the role of parliament and curtail the president’s powers, as well as guaranteeing civil liberties and political and media freedom.
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