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Zim lawyers finalise talking points on new constitution

Zim lawyers finalise talking points on new constitution
By Kingsley Kaswende in Harare
Fri 30 Apr. 2010, 07:50 CAT

LAWYERS representing the three political parties that form Zimbabwe coalition government have finalised the talking points for an outreach programme that will collect people’s views on the country’s new constitution.

The writing of the new constitution is the key preoccupation of the transitional inclusive government, which is supposed to provide grounds for democratic elections, expected sometime in 2011.

The talking points comprise questions that will be asked to the public around the country by thematic groups that have been formed, which comprise representatives from the three political parties and various interest groups.

Two lawyers from each party finalised the questions that have 17 thematic areas.

According to documents seen, the talking points are organised in themes that include founding principles, separation of state powers, the legislature, the judiciary and the Bill of Rights.

Zimbabweans will be asked if they want an executive President or prime minister to be the head of state and whether term limits should apply to such offices.

They will be asked whether the head of state should also be the head of government; how the head of state must be chosen; and the requirements for a person to fill such a position.

Regarding Parliament, there will be questions as to how the size of Parliament should be, whether members should be allowed to cross floors and how long the life of Parliament must be.
There will also be questions as to whether ministers should be members of parliament.

With regard to the judiciary there will be questions as to how many levels of court there should be; who should be the head of the judiciary and how he’s appointed; who should determine conditions of service

Zimbabwe’s political parties finalise talking points on new constitution for the judiciary; and the length of term for judicial officers.

Zimbabweans will also be asked what kind of government system the country should adopt, whether federal, unitary, or devolved system.

On land, there will be questions as to whether the right to land ownership by previously disadvantaged people should be entrenched in the constitution, whether compensation should be paid for land seized, and who should own the land.

With regard to elections, questions will surround what type of electoral system the country should adopt, whether first-past-the-post where the person with the highest number of votes wins or proportional representation where elected people are determined by the proportion of votes obtained by each party or the hybrid system a mixture of the above two.

Other questions will surround the frequency of general elections, whether people from the diaspora should be allowed to vote, and how electoral disputes should be treated.

The new constitution is supposed to be the basis of fresh elections after the inclusive government’s term expires in 18 to 36 months from the date of inception on February 13, 2009.

The process of drawing up the new constitution has been delaying due to a host of factors including funding and squabbles amongst the parties.

The squabbles among parties included the fact that President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF had been insisting on adopting a draft constitution agreed on by the parties three years ago as a framework for the new constitution.

The Kariba Draft constitution, as the draft is known, has now been opposed by Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party despite the party appending its signature to it in September 2007.

Experts say the Kariba Draft entrenches the executive powers of the President and leaves President Mugabe's powers intact.

The Kariba Draft was produced and signed by ZANU-PF and the MDC in 2007 during talks under the auspices of former South African president Thabo Mbeki.

The constitution-making programme’s financial limitations now seem to have been solved following the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) availing US3.3 million this week for the outreach programme.

The money comes barely a week after Sweden availed US$2.1 million for the programme.
This brings the amount received so far to US$5.4 million out of the US$8.5 million needed for the outreach programme.

The public consultation should take about 65 days after which a document will be written and presented to the electorate in a referendum, expected in the second half of 2010.

According to the global political agreement that established the inclusive government, the new constitution was supposed to be ready within 18 months of the formation of the inclusive government.

Labels: CONSTITUTION

posted by MrK @ 12:44 PM