I n s t i t u t e fo r j us t i ce a n d r eco n ci l iat i o n a fr i c a pr o g r a m m e
hold elections in 2012 because they have not been budgeted for, Mugabe maintained that the
money will be ‘found’ to hold the presidential and parliamentary elections. He dismissed as
‘cowards’ the two MDC formations in the inclusive government which remain adamant that
elections should be staged only after the introduction of wider democratic reforms, including
the completion of the constitutional-development process and the formulation of a clear road
map to a constitutional referendum and peaceful, free and fair elections. Zimbabwe’s prime
minister and leader of the MDC-T Morgan Tsvangirai has proposed 31 March 2013, when the
current parliament’s term expires, as the constitutional deadline for elections. Meanwhile,
the deputy prime minister, Arthur Mutambara, has indicated that June 2013 is the ‘ultimate
deadline’ and that the GPA provides for elections under the current constitution if the three
signatories to the GPA reach a deadlock.13
Conclusion
Constitutional reform in post-independence Zimbabwe has been intermittent and the likely
outcome of the current reform processes is difficult to determine. Various procedural choices
have powerfully affected the legitimacy and output of constitutional reform initiatives
to date. What is clear is that there is widespread political consensus on the need for a new
constitution that truely ‘mirrors the national soul’. However, the reform process is occurring
in a polarised political environment and is beset by considerable structural and logistical
challenges.
As of June 2012, Zimbabwe’s constitution-drafting process is deadlocked. The two MDC
formations accuse ZANU-PF of throwing spanners into the constitution-making process
with its position paper demanding wholesale changes to the latest draft constitution.14
COPAC continues to haggle over ZANU-PF’s demands which include giving additional
executive powers to the president, the rejection of dual citizenship and devolution of power
and revisions to the preamble. COPAC is expected to produce a report and submit it to the
negotiators from the three GPA parties for discussion. Meanwhile, concerns about the
production of a negotiated constitution that does not reflect the views gathered during the
outreach exercise have not been addressed. Uncertainty surrounds both the constitutionmaking process and the finalisation of the constitution itself.
Whether and when Zimbabwe will hold its next elections, with or without a new constitution,
also hinges on the ability of the guarantors of the GPA – namely SADC, SADC’s facilitator of
intra-Zimbabwe dialogue (currently, South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma) and the AU– to
persuade the signatories to the GPA to implement the agreement to the letter, and agree to
a clear roadmap to free and fair elections. In a communiqué issued after the Extraordinary
Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government in Luanda, Angola on 1 June 2012, SADC
‘urged the parties to the GPA to finalise the constitution-making process and subject it to
a referendum thereafter’. The communiqué also urged the parties, with the assistance of
President Zuma in his role as facilitator, ‘to develop an implementation mechanism and to
set out time frames for the full implementation of the Roadmap to Elections’ (SADC 2011). It
remains to be seen whether SADC will be able to hold Zimbabwe’s signatories accountable
for fully implementing the GPA (Dzinesa and Zambara 2011: 65).
SADC has already registered its concern about the lack of implementation of the GPA to
limited effect. For example, following much criticism of its monitoring of the implementation
of the agreement, SADC appeared to be willing to take a harder line (Dzinesa and Zambara
2011). In March 2011, a Troika Summit of SADC’s Organ on Politics, Defence, and Security
Cooperation in Zambia noted its ‘disappointment’ with, and expressed its ‘impatience’ at,
the slow pace of progress and the evident threat of a return to Zimbabwe’s recent dark past
(SADC 2011; Dzinesa and Zambara 2011). However, SADC has since failed to deliver on the
12