{{Robert Mugabe \u2014 who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence nearly 33 years ago \u2014 may stay in power for another decade if he is reelected according to a new draft constitution.}}<\/p>\n
The new basic law would limit presidential terms to 10 years and strip away presidential immunity.<\/p>\n
But it is not retroactive and so would grant Mugabe \u2014 who turns 89 in February \u2014 the right to run again in presidential polls.<\/p>\n
The draft constitution, which now needs to be voted on by parliament and Zimbabweans, forms the main pillar of reforms needed to hold a new vote after deadly 2008 elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe draft constitution will go to parliament early February and it will go to a referendum,\u201d Constitutional Affairs Minister Eric Matinenga told media.<\/p>\n
Zimbabwe\u2019s unity government of long-ruling Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai agreed to the text two weeks ago after disagreements and violence delayed the constitutional process in the last two years.<\/p>\n
There was no info on the much-awaited date when Zimbabweans will vote on the draft charter.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe referendum date is something that is going to be agreed in consultation with the principals (Mugabe and Tsvangirai),\u201d said Matinenga.<\/p>\n
Tsvangirai pulled out of a presidential run-off election in 2008, citing the killing of around 300 supporters.<\/p>\n
Long-ruling Mugabe and Tsvangirai were then forced into a power-sharing government a year later.<\/p>\n
Their relations have been characterised by bickering and counter-accusations of violence.<\/p>\n
The draft constitution retains the death penalty although it says \u201ca law may permit the death penalty to be imposed only on a person convicted of murder committed in aggravating circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
It prohibits the death penalty for women and people under 21 years and over 70.<\/p>\n
In a clear banning of gay or lesbian rights, the draft charter says \u201cpersons of the same sex are prohibited from marrying each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tsvangirai\u2019s Movement for Democratic Change party has said it will support the draft charter.<\/p>\n
Mugabe has insisted on new presidential elections in March, while Tsvangirai wants reforms first to allow for fair and violence-free polls.<\/p>\n
AFP<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
{{Robert Mugabe \u2014 who has ruled Zimbabwe since independence nearly 33 years ago \u2014 may stay in power for another decade if he is reelected according to a new draft constitution.}} The new basic law would limit presidential terms to 10 years and strip away presidential immunity. But it is not retroactive and so would […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[100],"byline":[170],"hashtag":[],"class_list":["post-5456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-africa","byline-igihe"],"bylines":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"contributors":[{"id":170,"name":"IGIHE","slug":"igihe","description":"","image":{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/?s=96&d=mm&f=y&r=g","alt":"Default avatar","title":"Default avatar","caption":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","sizes":[]},"user_id":8}],"featured_image":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5456\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5456"},{"taxonomy":"byline","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/byline?post=5456"},{"taxonomy":"hashtag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.igihe.com\/english\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtag?post=5456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}