Proposal to make it a constitutional right to have a Vice President from Matland

Copac has put on hold discussions on a proposal to have 2 vice-presidents in the new constitution with a requirement that one of them must come from Matabeleland region.

According to a list of proposed constitutional issues contained in a report dated November 14-22, Copac grappled with proposals on whether the country should have a President with 2 deputies as per the Unity Accord of 1987 which was signed between Zanu PF and PF Zapu.

Copac explored examples of power arrangements in other countries. "The French example was mentioned in the discussion as having both the president and prime minister with executive powers. It was indicated that it does not work because there cannot be two centres of power unless they all come from the same political party," said the report.

At one point, the MDC formation led by Welshman Ncube vowed to break with what has become a tradition of "perpetual Ndebele deputies" in the presidium by sponsoring a presidential candidate who was Ndebele by origin.