Zimbabweans to Vote on New Constitution

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai this week agreed on a final draft constitution that will go to referendum soon.

Al Jazeera, allAfrica.com, and Nehanda Radio (covering Zimbabwe news) all have reports, but the most detailed comes from RadioVop.

Among the provisions: The Attorney General's office will be divided into two new offices--an Attorney General that will sit in the cabinet and will advice the government, and a National Prosecuting Authority that will enforce the law.  (It's not clear, but this may mean that the prosecuting authority enjoys greater independence.)

The final draft constitution also tinkers with provincial governments and federalism by replacing the office of the Governor with a Head of Provincial Council, elected from among a slate provided by the the party with majority seats in that particular province, and by stating in the preamble that devolution does not imply divisionism or power or authority to secede.

The two-year effort to come up with the draft, led by the Constitution Parliamentary Committee, or COPAC, moved in fits and starts.  There may still be some details to work out before the draft is ready for referendum.  The COPAC web-site is here, but was down as of this post.  

SDS