Almost 95 percent of Zimbabweans voted in favour of a new constitution that would trim President Robert Mugabe's powers and pave the way for new elections, results showed Tuesday. Tallies of the weekend vote released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission showed 3,079,966 voters were in favour of the new constitution and 179,489 were against.
"Since the majority of the votes were received in favour of the adoption of the draft constitution, it is declared to have been adopted by the people of Zimbabwe," said Lovemore Sekeramayi, the official in charge of the vote tally. An estimated six million citizens were eligible to vote. Mugabe and his long-time rival Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai backed the draft constitution that will usher in fresh polls to end the pair's tense unity government.
The text limits presidents to two five-year terms in office, boosts parliament's powers and abolishes the post of prime minister. While the referendum was hailed by the United States and regional observers as peaceful and credible, the run-up to the vote was marred by isolated incidents of violence against both leaders' party officials. A day after the Saturday vote, four of Tsvangirai's staffers were arrested along with a leading rights lawyer who was giving them legal assistance.
The four have been charged with breaching the official secrets code, impersonating the police and illegal possession of documents for criminal use. Lawyer Beatrice Mtetwa faces separate charges. The arrests have raised concerns that elections slated from July may see a rerun of bloodshed that has marred past elections. The new vote which could legally be held anytime before end of October, will end the tense power-sharing arrangement set up by Mugabe and Tsvangirai after chaotic 2008 elections.