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Election Watch Issue 14 - 2013
The Media Monitoring Project Zimbabwe
February 10, 2013

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Parties agree on new constitution

News of Zimbabwe's coalition principals resolving all outstanding issues that had stalled the controversial constitution-making process made headlines in all the media this month.

The principals reportedly reached an agreement on January 17th after receiving a report from the Cabinet committee tasked with resolving the contentious issues, paving the way for the completion of the new constitution.

Although the state-owned print media also provided details on how the contentious issues were resolved, they failed to provide a critical analysis of the implications of the resolutions.

Among them was the decision to postpone the introduction of presidential running-mates by 10 years and the staffing of the proposed Constitutional Court by seven years; that the Peace and Reconciliation Commission would be operational for only 10 years; that the President would retain executive powers; and that reform of the Attorney-General's Office, among other issues, would be handled by the winner of the presidential election race (The Herald and The Sunday Mail, 19 & 27/1).

However, NewsDay (19/1) viewed ZANU PF as having made "a huge climbdown" by "giving up on virtually all their demands", including its opposition to devolution; dual citizenship; reform of the Attorney-General's Office and the creation of the National Prosecuting Authority.

Contrary to state print media reports, NewsDay and The Daily News (19/1) reported ZANU PF as having agreed to have presidential powers diluted, citing Constitutional and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga. Matinenga said although the executive powers of the president would be acknowledged in the new draft; most of them were set to be clipped and he/she would have to consult Parliament and Cabinet on major decisions, including declaring war.

However, the Daily News (25/1) argued that while the draft whittles down presidential powers significantly, it still represented "a triumph for Mugabe" because the draft "defers key changes for five to 10 years" after the adoption of the new constitution.

Similarly, NewsDay, The Zimbabwe Mail.com and Daily News On Sunday (21, 23 & 27/1) reported the deferment of presidential running mates as a way of helping President Mugabe and, to some extent, Prime Minister Tsvangirai to manage their parties' "explosive" succession issues.

While all the media agreed that the final draft was a political compromise and that it was not perfect, they maintained that the draft was a "giant leap" in efforts to democratize the country (NewsDay, 21/1).

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