NCA tables new constitution

, spearheaded the successful campaign against a new constitution in February 2000, which gave President Robert Mugabe his first electoral defeat.
“We are headed for exciting times,” said Lovemore Madhuku, National Constitutional Assembly chairperson and constitutional law expert. The NCA said it would campaign against any party that rejects the draft constitution before the next presidential elections and could even encourage mass protests.
“If any person believes that this current constitution will deliver change, then that person is mad. It is not up to the government to decide but up to the people,” said Madhuku.
The key change in the NCA draft constitution is to limit the president to two, five-year terms of office and reduce his powers. Under the current constitution, there is no limit to the number of terms a president can serve. The NCA document also proposes reverting to the system of a ceremonial president, as Zimbabwe had immediately after independence. The prime minister would have more executive powers but he would be accountable to parliament, which would be able to pass a vote of no confidence in the government.
Having dismissed the NCA as a front for the opposition, the government is unlikely to accept the constitution, especially as its own draft was rejected in a referendum in 1999. The violent invasion of white-owned farms began just days after the referendum result was announced.
“The draft guarantees a multi-party system based on regular, free and fair elections. To achieve this ideal, the bill of rights provides a set of political rights and the draft creates a truly independent electoral commission to manage the whole electoral process,” said Madhuku. – Own correspondent