33 Zimbabwe demands an inclusive approach to issues of constitution making and governance. The overriding interests in any constitutional reform process should be to create an enabling and conducive framework for good, peaceful and stable governance. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. There is sufficient comprehensive constitutional material to enable a reasonably sized and representative commission or team to draft a constitution which can be put to a national referendum. What is of paramount importance is to agree on the composition of such a commission or team. 4.3 MAIN AREAS OF DIVERGENCE, CONTENTION AND CONVERGENCE 4.3.1 The Executive Authority There is broad agreement that the powers enjoyed by the President under the current constitution need to be circumscribed. The main differences are in the manner and extent of the circumscription. This was expressed in different formulae in the different constitutional drafts. For example the question is whether the office of the Prime Minister should be recreated with the executive powers being shared between the President as Head of State and the Prime Minister as head of government 4.3.2 Legislature • The Constitutional Amendment 17 re-established a bi-cameral legislature by creating the Senate and House of Assembly. The critical issue in respect of the Legislature relate to the composition and system of elections of members of both Houses. In respect of composition the contentious issue is that the President has patronage of directly appointing a total of 18 members of Parliament (12 members of the House of Assembly and 6 Senators) out of a total of 216 (150 members of the House of Assembly and 66 Senators) and this compromises the democratic character of the Legislature. • Electoral System The electoral system is one of the pillars of the parliamentary democratic representative process. Elections and their management have become one of the key criterion for evaluating the extent to which a country has adopted the ethos and practice of democracy. It is so fundamental that it should be provided for in the constitution, which is not the case in Zimbabwe. It is currently regulated by an Act of Parliament; which means it can be modified by a simple majority and not by Constitutional Amendment which is more accountable.

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