Story by Panashe Nagoli
A NATIONAL public opinion survey has found majority support among informed Zimbabweans for several key proposals contained in the Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill, as the legislation awaits presidential assent after securing parliamentary approval.
The survey, conducted by the Public Policy and Research Institute of Zimbabwe (PPRIZ) between 9 and 18 April, found that 61.1 percent of Zimbabweans were aware of the proposed constitutional changes.
Among those aware of the Bill, 51.3 percent supported extending the electoral cycle from five to seven years, while 48.9 percent backed the proposal for the President to be elected by Parliament instead of through a direct vote.
Presenting the findings, PPRIZ Senior Research Fellow, Professor Wilfred Njabulo Nunu said respondents linked longer electoral cycles with improved governance.
“Our research shows that amongst the 61.1% of Zimbabweans that were actually aware of the Constitutional Amendment No.3 Bill, 51.3% supported the electoral cycle extension from five to seven years, as most said there is a correlation between corruption and frequent elections and so a longer electoral cycle would remedy that problem. 48.9% also supported the election of the President by Parliament and not direct election, whilst 51.1% were in support of the President directly because of the need for additional technical expertise in the upper house.”
The survey also found that 70.2 percent of respondents opposed the involvement of traditional leaders in active politics, a provision that was later removed from the Bill during the committee stage in the National Assembly.
PPRIZ Director, Dr Gorden Moyo said the findings also showed opposition to transferring the functions of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.
“Our study showed that 70.2% of Zimbabweans were against the involvement of traditional leaders in active politics as was initially proposed by the bill and also a majority was strongly against the transferring of the Zimbabwe Gender Commission functions to the Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission.”
Political analyst Dr Tawanda Zinyama said the survey findings reflected the outcome of parliamentary deliberations.
“This report actually shows the same thing that we saw in both the National Assembly and Senate and political decisions must be backed by empirical findings such as those contained in this National Public Opinion Survey.”
The Constitutional Amendment No. 3 Bill has been approved by both the National Assembly and the Senate and now awaits assent by President Dr Emmerson Mnangagwa.
