It has been a tortuous three years in the making but Zimbabwe’s new constitution, which was put to a referendum on Saturday March 16th, has elicited a jaw-breaking yawn from the country’s citizens. The three political parties stuck in an uneasy “government of national unity” have endorsed the draft constitution so the result of the poll—due by Thursday—is not in doubt. The headlines in the local independent press have lamented voter apathy though turnout may have been surprisingly strong. But the referendum’s main significance is as a staging post to an election that could take place as soon as July 18th. That poll is likely to be anything but dull.
New constitution It contains a bill of rights and imposes term limits on the president and security chiefs. (The term limits are not retrospective so president Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, could serve for another 10 years, were he to live that long.) The referendum was also a technical dry-run for Zimbabwe’s electoral commission and for observers from SADC, the 15-country regional bloc, which would be charged with ensuring that elections are free and fair.
Zimbabwe on Tuesday resoundingly adopted a new constitution, putting an end to the post-war Lancaster House constitution that has been used as the country’s supreme law since 1980.
The results announced by Lovemore Sekeramayi, the chief elections officer of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC), indicated that 3,079,966 had voted at the weekend’s referendum in favour of the draft constitution, while 179,489 had voted against the draft constitution. A further 56,627 votes cast at the referendum were rejected, according to Mr Sekeramayi, for various reasons, chief among these spoilt ballot papers.
"The draft constitution voted on at the weekend’s referendum is declared as the constitution of Zimbabwe", said Mr Sekeramayi at a press conference held in Harare.
Political analysts on Tuesday said the large voter turnout was a vindication of the ZEC, which had come under fire in the run-up to the referendum. The ZEC has been blamed for poor constitutional awareness campaigns, which had resulted in low voter turnouts, especially in the Bulawayo and Matabeleland provinces, located south of the country.
"This is a vindication for ZEC, as a large number of voters … turned out: there was nearly a 4-million turnout of voters at the weekend’s referendum. This signals the transformation that Zimbabwe has undergone from the Lancaster House constitution, which was not written by our own people," said one political commentator.
The next step for the new constitution would be for Parliament to adopt it and for President Robert Mugabe to make a proclamation that it had become the new supreme law of the country.
Mr Mugabe is in Rome, Italy, where he is attending the inauguration of Pope Francis, although indications are that he may make the proclamation as early as next week.
Paul Mangwana, a co-chairman of the constitutional parliamentary committee mandated to produce the draft constitution and a member of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF), indicated that the endorsement was a triumph for the people of Zimbabwe.
"This is the highest voter turnout since 1980; all our elections have not been anywhere near that margin. This vote is also an indication of success of the constitutional committee," said Mr Mangwana.
The adoption of the new draft now edges the country closer to an election expected sometime at the middle of the year. Mr Mangwana hinted that his Zanu (PF) party would alter aspects that it did not like in the draft constitution, if it wins at the next election.
"The newly adopted draft constitution can be amended. We are a sovereign country and it doesn’t matter what the international community will think about us tweaking it, if we think there is need for change," said Mr Mangwana. "Certainly there are other things that can’t be changed in it, such as the Bill of Rights and the land issue, but any other part that requires two-thirds majority in Parliament and can be changed."
Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) amended the Lancaster House constitution 18 times to entrench the veteran ruler’s grip on power.
It has been a tortuous three years in the making but Zimbabwe’s new constitution, which was put to a referendum on Saturday March 16th, has elicited a jaw-breaking yawn from the country’s citizens. The three political parties stuck in an uneasy “government of national unity” have endorsed the draft constitution so the result of the poll—due by Thursday—is not in doubt. The headlines in the local independent press have lamented voter apathy though turnout may have been surprisingly strong. But the referendum’s main significance is as a staging post to an election that could take place as soon as July 18th. That poll is likely to be anything but dull.
New constitution It contains a bill of rights and imposes term limits on the president and security chiefs. (The term limits are not retrospective so president Robert Mugabe, who has ruled Zimbabwe since 1980, could serve for another 10 years, were he to live that long.) The referendum was also a technical dry-run for Zimbabwe’s electoral commission and for observers from SADC, the 15-country regional bloc, which would be charged with ensuring that elections are free and fair.
Zimbabwe on Tuesday resoundingly adopted a new constitution, putting an end to the post-war Lancaster House constitution that has been used as the country’s supreme law since 1980.
The results announced by Lovemore Sekeramayi, the chief elections officer of the Zimbabwe Election Commission (ZEC), indicated that 3,079,966 had voted at the weekend’s referendum in favour of the draft constitution, while 179,489 had voted against the draft constitution. A further 56,627 votes cast at the referendum were rejected, according to Mr Sekeramayi, for various reasons, chief among these spoilt ballot papers.
"The draft constitution voted on at the weekend’s referendum is declared as the constitution of Zimbabwe", said Mr Sekeramayi at a press conference held in Harare.
Political analysts on Tuesday said the large voter turnout was a vindication of the ZEC, which had come under fire in the run-up to the referendum. The ZEC has been blamed for poor constitutional awareness campaigns, which had resulted in low voter turnouts, especially in the Bulawayo and Matabeleland provinces, located south of the country.
"This is a vindication for ZEC, as a large number of voters … turned out: there was nearly a 4-million turnout of voters at the weekend’s referendum. This signals the transformation that Zimbabwe has undergone from the Lancaster House constitution, which was not written by our own people," said one political commentator.
The next step for the new constitution would be for Parliament to adopt it and for President Robert Mugabe to make a proclamation that it had become the new supreme law of the country.
Mr Mugabe is in Rome, Italy, where he is attending the inauguration of Pope Francis, although indications are that he may make the proclamation as early as next week.
Paul Mangwana, a co-chairman of the constitutional parliamentary committee mandated to produce the draft constitution and a member of Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF), indicated that the endorsement was a triumph for the people of Zimbabwe.
"This is the highest voter turnout since 1980; all our elections have not been anywhere near that margin. This vote is also an indication of success of the constitutional committee," said Mr Mangwana.
The adoption of the new draft now edges the country closer to an election expected sometime at the middle of the year. Mr Mangwana hinted that his Zanu (PF) party would alter aspects that it did not like in the draft constitution, if it wins at the next election.
"The newly adopted draft constitution can be amended. We are a sovereign country and it doesn’t matter what the international community will think about us tweaking it, if we think there is need for change," said Mr Mangwana. "Certainly there are other things that can’t be changed in it, such as the Bill of Rights and the land issue, but any other part that requires two-thirds majority in Parliament and can be changed."
Mr Mugabe’s Zanu (PF) amended the Lancaster House constitution 18 times to entrench the veteran ruler’s grip on power.
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