News / National
New constitution has been completed says Biti
18 Jul 2012 at 20:25hrs | Views
Harare - Zimbabwe has finished work on the draft of a new constitution to pave the way for new elections, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said on Wednesday, more than three years after the process started.
Biti told lawmakers that the process of writing the draft had been "tortuous" and "acrimonious", but that "at the end of the day we came up with a constitution".
"Indeed history has been written in the last few weeks," he said while presenting his mid-term budget.
A new constitution is a key condition of reforms agreed in 2008 when President Robert Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing deal with his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai to avoid a descent into conflict after a violent presidential election.
The document will be subject to a referendum before elections can be organised, possibly next year.
Biti told lawmakers that the process of writing the draft had been "tortuous" and "acrimonious", but that "at the end of the day we came up with a constitution".
"Indeed history has been written in the last few weeks," he said while presenting his mid-term budget.
A new constitution is a key condition of reforms agreed in 2008 when President Robert Mugabe was forced into a power-sharing deal with his arch-rival Morgan Tsvangirai to avoid a descent into conflict after a violent presidential election.
The document will be subject to a referendum before elections can be organised, possibly next year.
Source - AFP
