This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HARARE 002451 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
NSC FOR SENIOR AFRICA DIRECTOR J. FRAZER, TEITELBAUM 
LONDON FOR C. GURNEY 
PARIS FOR C. NEARY 
NAIROBI FOR T. PFLAUMER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ZI
SUBJECT: YEAR-END LEGISLATIVE FLURRY REINFORCES RULING 
PARTY DOMINANCE 
 
REF: A. HARARE 02353 
     ¶B. HARARE 2421 
     ¶C. HARARE 1135 
     ¶D. HARARE 874 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Parliament adjourned for the holiday season 
on December 18 after passing legislation that disenfranchises 
thousands of voters and favors the ruling party in the 2005 
Parliamentary elections.  However, Parliament was not able to 
push through legislation that would ease the acquisition of 
farms despite a furtive effort to do so over the last three 
weeks. In spite of newfound influence as the majority on the 
Parliamentary Legal Committee, the MDC is still powerless to 
stop ZANU-PF from passing these and other highly contentious 
pieces of legislation.  End summary. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Quest to Disenfranchise Voters Continues 
---------------------------------------- 
¶2. (U) The Citizenship of Zimbabwe Amendment Bill, which 
Parliament passed before adjourning on December 18, is one of 
two bills that would have direct implications on future 
elections, the other being the Electoral Amendment Bill. 
Both Bills were carried over from the last session.  The 
controversial Citizenship Bill, which was first gazetted in 
February 2003 and did not receive a favorable report from the 
Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC)--the body responsible for 
checking the constitutionality of proposed 
legislation--allows people of Southern African Development 
Community (SADC) descent who were born in Zimbabwe to get a 
certificate confirming their citizenship without having to 
renounce the country of their parents. The bill limits such 
beneficiaries to those whose SADC parent(s) immigrated into 
or  Zimbabwean parent(s) emigrated out of Zimbabwe to work as 
a general laborer, farm laborer, mineworker, or domestic 
employee.  The government-controlled daily newspaper The 
Herald quoted Minister of Justice Patrick Chinamasa,s 
defense of the bill as a way to &facilitate and complete 
their assimilation and integration into our society.8 
Chinamasa also claimed that the bill made it easier for this 
group of illiterate people to renounce their citizenship and 
restore their dignity. COMMENT: The Citizenship Amendment 
Bill appears to be a way for ZANU-PF to regain the support of 
Zimbabweans of SADC heritage, in particular former commercial 
farm workers.  The GOZ also used the citizenship legislation 
as a bargaining tool with Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique.  In 
its carefully worded text, the Bill deliberately excludes 
white Zimbabweans from claiming citizenship without removing 
allegiance to the country of ancestry.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶3. (SBU) The Electoral Amendment Bill, which was first 
gazetted in March 2002, lapsed at the end of last session and 
has been reintroduced.  Despite an adverse PLC report and a 
negative report by the Portfolio committee, it is unlikely 
the contents of the bill will be changed.  Minister of 
Justice Patrick Chinamasa has been reluctant to share the 
latest version with stakeholders and appears to want to give 
analysts as little time as possible to review the &new8 
bill, according to Miles Toder, Director of State University 
of New York,s Strengthening of Parliament Programs.  At last 
review, the bill imposed a range of restrictions that would 
disenfranchise many voters, prevent civic organizations from 
engaging in voter education, limit election monitoring and 
observation, and prevent posting of posters and other 
campaign materials on walls, trees, etc. without the 
permission of the owner.  Under the bill, only diplomatic 
staff and defense force personnel were able to vote by post, 
thereby depriving the large numbers of Zimbabweans outside 
the country of their right to vote.  The requirement for 
proof of constituent residency may also disenfranchise many 
renters. 
 
--------------------- 
Land Acquisition Bill 
--------------------- 
¶4. U) Most observers expected the Land Acquisition Amendment 
Bill, which has been referred to the PLC, to be fast-tracked 
through Parliament before it adjourned on December 18.  The 
bill makes it procedurally easier for the GOZ to acquire land 
and expands the types of land it can acquire to include 
plantation farms, agro-industrial property, export processing 
zones, and approved conservancies.  The bill makes these 
rules retroactive to May 2000.  (See ref A) 
 
¶5. (U) The land bill is not only controversial in its content 
but also in the way in which it was introduced into 
Parliament. The public was led to believe the Bill was 
gazetted on November 28 but no one was able to get a copy and 
it was not included in the gazette issued by government 
printers on that date.  Instead, the Government Gazette for 
December 5 contained an extraordinary gazette with the Bill 
published with the November 28 date.  According to 
parliamentary procedure, bills are gazetted 14 days before 
they are introduced in Parliament.  This allows lawmakers and 
the public to read and prepare comment on government,s 
intentions.  Parliament agreed to suspend its Standing Order 
that dictates the 14-day minimum and reduced the time limit 
to 10 days, thereby fueling speculation that the Bill would 
be rushed through. In the end, however, the bill was deferred 
until the next sitting. 
 
¶6. (U) In addition to trying to rush through the Land 
Acquisition Amendment Bill, the GOZ published in an 
Extraordinary Gazette on December 16 a Statutory Instrument 
that authorizes agents of the Ministry of Lands to seize farm 
equipment and material from former commercial farmers.  (See 
Ref B) 
 
----------- 
PLC Problems 
----------- 
¶7. (U) The October hospitalization of ZANU-PF MP and chair of 
the Parliamentary Legal Committee (PLC) Eddison Zvobgo halted 
Parliament,s ability to pass bills for several weeks. Not 
until Speaker of the House Emmerson Mnangagwa asked Welshman 
Ncube, MDC MPP and a member of the PLC, to serve as temporary 
chair and Innocent Gonese, MDC Chief Whip and a qualified 
legal practitioner, to become a temporary member of the 
committee did Parliamentary business resume.  Because of the 
lack of legally qualified ZANU-PF MPs, Mnangagwa was forced 
to appoint an MDC MP to the PLC if Parliament were to 
function.  These temporary appointments give the MDC a 
majority on the committee. The remaining PLC member is 
Kumbirai Kangai, a ZANU-PF MP from Buhera South in 
Manicaland, who has no legal training.  (NOTE: According to 
the Zimbabwe Constitution, the PLC must examine every bill, 
except Constitutional Bills, introduced into Parliament or 
amended after PLC examination but before the final reading; 
every draft bill; and every statutory and draft statutory 
instrument to ensure that they are not in contravention of 
the Declaration of Rights.  The PLC must have at least 3 
members, the majority of whom should be qualified lawyers . 
END NOTE.) 
 
------------------------------------- 
ZANU-PF's Quest for a Two-Thirds Majority 
------------------------------------- 
¶8. (U) ZANU-PF will have a difficult opportunity to draw one 
seat closer to the two-thirds majority it needs to amend the 
constitution.  Tafadzwa Musekiwa, MDC MP for Zengeza (a 
Harare suburb near Chitungwiza and an area of MDC strength), 
resigned his seat in Parliament, after having fled Zimbabwe 
for Britain earlier this year.  According to the Zimbabwe 
Constitution, an MP who misses more than 21 consecutive days 
of Parliament can be dismissed.  Musekiwa,s resignation 
reduces the MDC,s representation to 52, down from 57 MPs 
after the 2000 parliamentary elections.  ZANU-PF has 65 
elected MPs and 30 appointed MPs and ZANU-Ndongo one.  The 
Gutu North (Masvingo province) by-election to replace 
deceased Vice President Simon Muzenda is scheduled to take 
place on February 2 and 3, 2004 and will most likely be won 
by ZANU-PF. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
¶9. (SBU) Parliament concluded the year having passed three 
controversial amendments (the Broadcasting Services Amendment 
Act and the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy 
Amendment Act during the last session and the Citizenship of 
Zimbabwe Amendment Bill this session; ref C and D) and having 
two more bad laws (the Land Acquisition Amendment and the 
Electoral Amendment) ready to pass through Parliament when it 
resumes next year.  MDC MPs can do little to halt the 
progression of these bills, as a simple majority is all that 
is required for passage. Additionally, voting is not 
confidential so ZANU-PF MPs may be reluctant to join MDC MPs 
 
SIPDIS 
in objecting to some of the more egregious pieces of 
legislation. 
 
¶10. (SBU) The MDC majority in the PLC offers somewhat 
illusory influence.  It gives the MDC an opportunity to 
comment on pieces of legislation and to ostensibly slow the 
passage of bad laws.  However, while the Zimbabwe 
Constitution mandates the PLC review, a simple majority in 
Parliament can override the PLC reports. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The GOZ will most likely ram through both the 
Electoral Amendment Bill and the Land Acquisition Amendment 
Bill during the next sitting. The &new8 Electoral Amendment 
Bill, which the Minister of Justice is revising, will most 
likely resurface with only limited cosmetic changes, much 
like the AIPPA Amendment, and proceed through Parliament with 
a simple majority.  The Land Acquisition Amendment Bill will 
most likely follow suit. 
 
¶12. (SBU) ZANU-PF is getting closer to the two-thirds 
majority it needs to alter the Constitution.  If the party 
were to win both Gutu (likely) and the Zengeza seat 
(unlikely) and ZANU Ndongo (which holds one seat) votes with 
ZANU-PF, they would be two votes shy of this majority. 
However, ZANU-PF winning the Harare suburb Zengeza seat is 
unlikely given the overwhelming support for the MDC in 
Harare. If two or three MDC seats do not come open, ZANU-PF 
may just wait until scheduled 2005 Parliamentary elections 
and focus on winning two seats held by MDC MPs in ZANU-PF 
strongholds, Masvingo and Mashonaland.  End Comment. 
SULLIVAN