ANNEX D THE PRE-INDEPENDENCE ARRANGEMENTS 1. The British Government puts forward the following proposals for implementing the Independence Constitution. 2. Rhodesia continues to be part of Her Majesty's dominions. The Government and Parliament of the United Kingdom have responsibility and jurisdiction for and in respect of it. It is for the British Parliament to grant legal independence to Rhodesia. 3. An Independence Constitution has been agreed by the parties, subject to agreement on the arrangements for implementing it. The Constitution gives full effect to the principle of genuine majority rule and will give the government of independent Zimbabwe the powers it needs to carry out the policies on the basis of which it is elected. 4. The question of majority rule, which gave rise to the war, has therefore been resolved. The question now at issue is who is to form the future independence government. The British Government's position is that this must be decided by the people of Zimbabwe, in free and fair elections in which all parties will be able to take part on equal terms. The British Government will transfer power to whatever leaders are chosen by the people of Rhodesia in elections held under these conditions and supervised under the British Government's authority. The British Government will not be prepared to transfer power to any party which has not won it in elections. The elections will be held on the basis of the Independence Constitution and all parties will be expected to abide by it. All parties taking part in the elections will also be expected to commit themselves to abide by the outcome. Such a commitment will be essential if Zimbabwe is to come to independence in peace and with a prospect of stability and prosperity for all its people. 5. The proposals put to the Conference by the Salisbury delegation and the Patriotic Front showed that there was a wide divergence of views on how to create the conditions in which fair elections can be held. 6. The Salisbury delegation maintained that they had been elected to govern Rhodesia; that most of their members had nothing to do with the illegal declaration of independence; that they had a mandate to govern Rhodesia, and that they should do so during the interim period. Elections should be supervised by the British Government, but they would continue to administer the country. 7. The Patriotic Front's position was set out in the paper on transitional arrangements which they circulated early in the course of this Conference and later amplified. Their proposals called for complex power-sharing arrangements in the interim and re-structuring of the police and security forces in advance of the election. 8. Against this background, the British Government has reached certain conclusions. In the first place, the purpose of the pre- independence arrangements is to allow the parties to put their case to the people under fair conditions. The pre- independence period should not be concerned with the remodelling of the institutions of Government. This will be a matter for the independence government elected by the people of Rhodesia. The essential requirement is that all parties should be free to put their policies to the people and should commit themselves to abide by the people's choice. The purpose of the interim period should be peaceful competition for power. 9. Secondly, the British Government proposes that the administration of Rhodesia during the election should be entrusted to the authority of the British Government, while the leaders of all parties explain their case to the people. 10. Thirdly, the British Government has concluded that, against the background of a war and the certain difficulties of a cease- fire, an interim period must not be excessively protracted, but must allow all the political parties adequate time to put their case to the people of Rhodesia. The longer the interim period lasts before the people of Rhodesia are given the chance to decide their political future for themselves, the greater will be the period of political uncertainty and the greater the risk of a break-