Parliament postpones debate on Amendment 19

Parliament postpones debate on Amendment 19

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Posted to the web: 20/01/2009 12:10:37
DEBATE on the collapse of Zimbabwe's health and education systems was on parliament's agenda Tuesday, but not work on a constitutional amendment needed to make a power-sharing agreement a reality.

Hours before Tuesday's parliament session was to open, Zimbabwe's president and opposition factions ended 12 hours of talks with no progress on the unity deal. A special regional summit was set for next week to try to break the deadlock.

A proposed constitutional amendment would, among other steps, create the prime minister's post Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai is to hold in the unity government. President Robert Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, would remain president.

Tsvangirai won the most votes in the first round of presidential elections last March but pulled out of a runoff with Mugabe because of violence against his supporters.

Alexander Musundire, a member of parliament from the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said Tuesday that allowing the amendment to be introduced would give Mugabe's Zanu PF party "legitimacy."

The MDC accuses Mugabe of trying to retain too many "key" Cabinet and other government posts in any unity government, and of undermining the spirit of the agreement signed in September by harassing, beating and killing opposition supporters and human rights activists.

"Those outstanding issues need to be addressed before we can accept" the amendment, Musundire said. He said debate Tuesday would instead focus on the harassment of opposition activists, a cholera epidemic and the failure of schools to open on time earlier this month.

The political wrangling has kept Zimbabwe's leaders from focusing on the economic collapse that has led to the health and education crisis, and left half the country's people in need of food aid.

Patrick Chinamasa, the acting Finance Minister, said Tuesday the constitutional amendment was something all the parties needed and should support, but his party would hold off introduction until after the regional summit, to be held Monday in either South Africa or Botswana.

"Our position is that the bill should be pushed through," Chinamasa said. "We hope that the MDC is going to fully support it."

Mugabe recently appointed Chinamasa acting finance minister. Chinamasa said Tuesday that next week he would introduce a budget for 2009, delayed because of the political turmoil.

Mugabe's appointments of acting ministers had raised fears he planned to appoint a government unilaterally if the opposition did not join a unity government. - AP
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