HARARE: Zimbabweans voted on a new constitution yesterday that would pave the way for crucial elections in a country plagued by political violence.
Voters are expected to roundly back the text, which would introduce presidential term limits, beef up Parliament’s powers and set elections to decide whether 89-year-old Mugabe stays in power.
Mugabe has ruled uninterrupted since the country’s independence in 1980, despite a series of disputed and violent polls and a severe economic crash propelled by hyper-inflation.
The new draft constitution is part of an internationally-backed plan to get the country back on track. It is supported by both the veteran president and his political nemesis Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.
But that has not prevented incidents of violence as activists keep one eye on the general election slated for July.
Shortly before polls in the constitutional referendum opened Saturday, gunmen — later identified as plainclothes police detectives — seized a member of Tsvangirai’s Movement for Democratic Change from his home southeast of Harare.
Police spokeswoman Charity Charamba said Samson Magumura had been arrested on charges of attempted murder in connection with a recent firebomb attack that injured a Mugabe ally.
But MDC Finance Minister Tendai Biti said police could not confirm where Magumura was being held.
As he cast his vote on Saturday, Mugabe, whom many blame for past unrest, urged Zimbabweans to ensure the referendum proceeded peacefully.
“You can’t go about beating people on the streets, that’s not allowed, we want peace in the country, peace, peace.” Mugabe also used the opportunity to castigate the West, vowing they would not be allowed to monitor the upcoming general election.
“The Europeans and the Americans have imposed sanctions on us and we keep them out in the same way they keep us out,” he said.
Casting his ballot, Tsvangirai expressed hope that a positive outcome would help catapult the country out of a crisis that has been marked by bloodshed and economic meltdown.
“I hope it sets in a political culture where we move from a culture of impunity to a culture of constitutionalism,” he said.
Official results of the referendum are expected to be released within five days of the vote. Polling stations will close at 1700 GMT.
Around six million eligible voters were expected to cast ballots at 9,456 polling stations dotted across the impoverished southern African country.
But turnout was slow at many polling stations.
School teacher Petronella Dzikiti said she voted in favor of the new constitution, in part because it would introduce presidential term limits.
“We don’t want a situation like we have today, where some of us knew one leader as a child who remains there when we are grown-ups,” the 36-year-old said outside a polling station in Chitungwiza, near the capital.
The new constitution would for the first time put a definite, if distant, end date on Mugabe’s 33-year rule.
Presidents would be allowed to serve two terms of five years each, meaning that, elections permitting, Mugabe could rule until 2023, by which time he would be 99-years-old.
The text would also strip away presidential immunity after leaving office and bolster the independence and power of Parliament and the courts.
It would also set up a peace and reconciliation commission tasked with post-conflict justice and healing.
In the run-up to the vote, violence did not approach the levels seen in the disputed 2008 elections.
Then, at least 180 people were killed and 9,000 injured in unrest that prompted the international community to force Mugabe and Tsvangirai into a coalition government.
But there are widespread fears that July’s contest between Tsvangirai and Mugabe might herald a return to bloodshed.
On the eve of the referendum, several MDC members, including a parliamentary candidate, were beaten up as they put up posters backing the draft constitution.
The authorities have also been accused of targeting pro-democracy groups by arresting their leaders and seizing equipment.
The chief of the regional bloc which brokered the power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe four years ago urged voters to “make history” by holding a peaceful vote.
Tomaz Salamao, executive secretary of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), urged voters to “send a strong message that it is possible in Zimbabwe to hold a referendum and elections in peace.” Observers fear there may not be enough time to apply all the necessary reforms to ensure a healthier political environment before the next elections.
They also say people have not had much opportunity to debate and digest the text before voting, leaving citizens in the dark about what the vote will mean for the country.
In Harare’s flashpoint township of Mbare, where violence broke out on Friday, Felistas Muridhini was one was one of dozens lining up to vote.
The 34-year-old mother said she had voted in favor of the draft.
“I have been following the drafting of the constitution. I voted yes, because I was acting on my party’s orders,” she said.
