Zimbabwe's three main political parties have agreed on the contents of a draft constitution, which are expected to pave the way for general elections later this year, the country's
president announced Thursday.
President Robert Mugabe's African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF) and the two factions of the Movement for Democratic Change, MDC-M and MDC-T, reached an agreement on changes to the draft
constitution on Thursday, ending four years of heated debates and numerous deadlocks.
"We have at last come to the end of this marathon exercise," Mugabe told journalists in Harare, after holding a closed door meeting with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, deputy premier Arthur
Mutambara and MDC leader Welshman Ncube.
Tsvangirai called the compromise "a defining moment for the country", saying he was certain the new document "will [be in] the interest of the people of Zimbabwe."
The president told dpa a few last changes were made to the document, but refused to give any details before the constitutional referendum.
"Let us not look at what the difficulties were. Those are now part of our history. We want them forgotten," said Mugabe, who has been Zimbabwe's president since the country gained independence from
Britain in 1980.
The political parties have been debating on the latest version of the draft charter since July last year.
The draft constitution will be amended to reflect the latest changes and then be taken to a referendum. Mugabe, who turns 89 in February, promised to announce a date for a constitutional referendum in a "week's time."
Regional leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have been insistent that Zimbabwe's fragile coalition government honours a 2008 power-sharing agreement, which stipulates a
new constitution must be adopted before democratic elections can be undertaken.