Zanu PF still in deadlock over new constitution

By Never Kadungure (Nehanda Radio Political Editor)

Robert Mugabe’s Zanu PF party remained deadlocked on whether to accept a new draft constitution that trims the powers of the President. Wednesday’s meeting of the Politburo was the third such meeting to discuss the draft.

The meeting ended late last night with a politburo source telling Nehanda Radio “the stance of the party on the document will be disclosed at another similar gathering scheduled for next week.”

During the previous meetings, the party expressed disagreement on a number of issues pertaining to the appointment of governors, the judiciary and specifically the office of the Attorney-General and Prosecutor-General among other issues.

Zanu PF Secretary for Information and Publicity, Rugare Gumbo and Zanu PF Copac Management Committee member, Patrick Chinamasa said at the end of the deliberations that the party is putting final touches to the proposed amendments to the draft and will soon announce the party position on the draft.

Speaking at a discussion forum organised by IDASA, a Pretoria-based African democracy institute, acid tongued Zanu PF strategist Jonathan Moyo said admitted the opposition Zanu PF (in Parliament) had last week spent 18 hours combing through the document and was still discussing it.

Moyo attacked the draft saying it “It strips the executive of all powers and leaves it as a clerical branch of government. This draft is an attack, quite a serious attack on our sovereignty, quite a serious attack on our democracy,” the serial political flip flopper was quoted as saying.

Zimbabweans are expected to vote for or against the proposed constitution sometime this year, and make way for the holding of elections which will end the coalition government which was used by SADC to the end the Zanu PF instigated bloodshed after Mugabe lost elections in March 2008.