Controversial draft proposal for senate to be tabled

Zimbabwe's ruling ZANU-PF party has approved a draft plan proposing constitutional amendments to create a new senate, but political analysts warn that the election criteria for members will lead to more internal strife as cadres jostle for positions. Justice minister Patrick Chinamasa told IRIN he intended tabling the approved draft proposal in parliament before the end of this week, saying the senate would "improve the governance and decision-making processes of government" by ensuring broader representation and exhaustive consultation. "We went through the proposals and wholly agreed on the need for the upper house. The next stage is to take it to parliament, where I do not expect any delays," Chinamasa told IRIN. According to the draft, the 65 members of the senate will review and possibly refine legislation from the lower chamber. The bill proposes establishing boundaries for five senatorial constituencies in each province. Zimbabwe has eight administrative provinces based on existing geographic boundaries, but 10 political provinces, each with its own governor, because the cities of Bulawayo and Harare are included as metropolitan provinces. Chinamasa said the bill would also seek to determine the powers of the senate president. ZANU PF political commissar Elliot Manyika told IRIN that the governors of Harare and Bulawayo Metropolitan provinces, who are directly appointed by the president, would automatically join the senate. Interest groups would be allowed to recommend suitable candidates to the Senate president, who would make the final decision on whether or not to appoint. After internal party primary elections to select suitable candidates, a total of 50 senators are to be elected, leaving the remaining 15 nonpolitical members to be appointed by the state president from special interest groups, such as members of the council of chiefs, women and representatives from the agricultural and business sectors. Candidates younger than 40 years of age will not be eligible for senate positions. ZANU-PF political commissar Elliot Manyika said the senate was not just for ZANU PF although the party would lead its re-introduction. "All Zimbabwean people, regardless of political loyalty would be allowed to vote for Senate members according to their provinces. But ZANU-PF will still go ahead if supporters of other parties choose not to vote. We have the candidates and we have the voters," he remarked. Political analysts have condemned the new senate as a nonpriority project, and warned of further factional fighting in the ruling party as candidates scramble for positions in the new house. They observed that the party had no choice but to take the route of divisive primary elections, although President Robert Mugabe's main motive in creating it was to appease losers in the parliamentary elections held on 31 March in the hope of holding the party together. "The primary election criteria has always divided ZANU-PF. With all the previous losers waiting for accommodation in government, the battles will leave the party much worse than it is at the moment. The appointment process would be equally disastrous, which leaves the party with no choice but to fall for the divisive primaries," said Daniel Molokela, a Zimbabwean political analyst based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Eddie Cross of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said the creation of the Senate was a waste of time and resources on "self-serving, nonpriority projects" when there were pressing issue like widespread fuel and food shortages still requiring government attention. He noted that the economic costs of the Senate would include increased spending on a "bloated bureaucracy" of no national value. "Zimbabweans can expect more misery with the coming of the senate. This country does not need that much representation, so it will not address the problems we are facing. We need food and fuel but the ZANU-PF government seems to be too occupied with itself, accommodating more loyalists in positions of power and ignoring the people altogether," Cross told IRIN. Manyika said there was no timeframe for the Senate to come into being, and it would depend on how long it took to finish the legal steps of setting it up. "All I can say is that this is an important national institution. The party agrees with President Mugabe that it is urgent, so it must come as soon as the legal processes are finalised," he said. The first senate, set up at independence in 1980, was disbanded in 1987 when President Mugabe consolidated his power by abolishing the post of prime minister and assumed executive presidency. After its victory in the March 2005 parliamentary elections, ZANU-PF said it would reintroduce the upper house to improve national representation in decision-making.