2008 Polls - Chinamasa Speaks 


The Herald (Harare)


NEWS

18 September 2007

Posted to the web 18 September 2007

Harare 

JUSTICE, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Cde Patrick Chinamasa is today expected to table before Parliament the long-awaited amendments to Constitutional Amendment Number 18 Bill, which seeks to harmonise presidential and parliamentary elections with effect from next year. 

The changes will reduce the presidential term from six years to five years with a parliamentary dissolution automatically triggering a presidential election. 

     
The second major change in the Bill concerns Parliament itself, with the House of Assembly becoming larger and occupied almost entirely by elected members while all chiefs and provincial governors move to the Senate. 

The proposed amendments come in the wake of the approval by the Zanu-PF Politburo of the progress in the talks between the ruling party and the opposition MDC. 

At its recent meeting, the Politburo noted with satisfaction progress in the talks with the MDC after Cde Chinamasa presented a report. 

Agreements are understood to have been reached between the two parties on constitutional matters, among other issues. 

South African President Thabo Mbeki last Saturday met both leaders of the splintered MDC to brief them on the ongoing dialogue between the opposition and the ruling Zanu-PF, media reports said yesterday. 

Faction leaders Mr Morgan Tsvangirai and Professor Arthur Mutambara met President Mbeki for an hour, according to the reports. 

"I can confirm that President Mbeki met Mutambara and Tsvangirai on Saturday as part of the ongoing consultation process over the Sadc-initiated dialogue to find a lasting solution to the Zimbabwe crisis," said Prof Welshman Ncube, secretary-general of the Mutambara-led faction. 

Prof Ncube refused to reveal details of the meeting between Mr Mbeki and the MDC faction leaders. 

But spokesman of the Mutambara faction Mr Gabriel Chaibva was quoted in media reports as saying his party would issue a statement on the meeting. 

"As the secretary-general (Welshman Ncube) said, we have no major problems (with the talks) so far. We have faith that the talks will provide a breakthrough soon. But I can't talk about the process because we are gagged," Mr Chaibva said. 

Prof Ncube, Mr Tendai Biti of the Tsvangirai faction and the Zanu-PF team comprising the Minister of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare Cde Nicholas Goche and Cde Chinamasa form the negotiating team. 

In March, Sadc mandated President Mbeki to broker dialogue between Zanu-PF and MDC to resolve the problems facing Zimbabwe. 

Mr Biti, secretary-general of the Tsvangirai-led MDC faction and its representative to the South African-mediated talks, refused to comment on the talks. 

"We have a binding agreement not to discuss issues relating to the talks. We cannot talk to the media about the process," he said. 

Both Zanu-PF and MDC have expressed satisfaction with the progress of the talks. 

The Herald is reliably informed that the negotiating teams have at times been meeting without the South African facilitators. 



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