LONDON,
United
Kingdom
–
Zimbabweans
living
in
the
United
Kingdom
will
gather
outside
Zimbabwe
House
on
The
Strand
in
central
London
on
Saturday
–
Independence
Day
–
to
protest
the
Constitution
of
Zimbabwe
Amendment
(No.
3)
Bill,
demanding
that
President
Emmerson
Mnangagwa’s
government
submit
any
constitutional
changes
to
a
national
referendum.
The
demonstration,
organised
by
the
Citizens
Protest
Movement,
a
coalition
of
UK-based
Zimbabwean
community
organisations,
will
begin
at
12PM
outside
the
embassy,
which
serves
as
Zimbabwe’s
diplomatic
mission
in
Britain.
Protesters
are
opposing
provisions
in
the
Bill
that
would
strip
citizens
of
the
right
to
directly
elect
the
president,
transferring
that
power
to
parliament;
extend
presidential
and
parliamentary
terms
from
five
to
seven
years,
effectively
pushing
the
next
elections
from
2028
to
2030;
return
voter
registration
from
the
Zimbabwe
Electoral
Commission
to
the
Registrar-General’s
Office,
reversing
a
key
reform
of
the
2013
constitution;
and
expand
presidential
control
over
judicial
appointments
and
the
Senate.
For
Zimbabweans
living
in
the
diaspora,
the
removal
of
direct
presidential
elections
carries
a
particular
sting
–
it
would
render
the
long-promised
but
still-unimplemented
diaspora
vote
effectively
meaningless.
Makomborero
Haruzivishe,
diaspora
spokesperson
for
the
Constitutional
Defenders
Forum,
one
of
the
coalition
members,
said
parliament
could
not
be
trusted
with
the
power
to
elect
a
president.
“The
plot
to
strip
Zimbabweans
of
the
right
to
vote
for
their
president
directly,
and
to
hand
that
power
to
legislators
who,
as
we’ve
seen
in
this
current
parliament,
are
susceptible
to
bribery
and
manipulation,
is
an
attack
on
the
democratic
will
of
every
Zimbabwean,”
he
said.
“We
will
not
stand
by
while
the
fundamental
rights
of
our
people
are
traded
away
behind
closed
doors.”
Chenai
Mutambaruse,
spokesperson
for
Zim
for
All
Foundation,
said
the
Bill
was
compounding
the
failures
of
the
last
election
rather
than
addressing
them.
“Instead
of
addressing
the
challenges
exposed
in
the
last
election,
this
bill
is
entrenching
them,
further
weakening
accountability,
limiting
citizen
participation,
and
concentrating
power
in
the
hands
of
the
president,”
she
said.
Organisers
said
the
choice
of
Independence
Day,
marking
46
years
since
Zimbabwe’s
gained
freedom
in
1980,
was
deliberate,
calling
it
a
statement
that
the
freedoms
enshrined
in
the
2013
constitution
must
not
be
surrendered
to
executive
overreach.
Critics
have
also
raised
the
legitimacy
of
parliament
being
asked
to
pass
the
amendments,
pointing
to
the
mass
removal
of
Citizens
Coalition
for
Change
MPs
by
self-styled
CCC
secretary-general
Sengezo
Tshabangu,
backed
by
state
institutions,
which
they
argue
means
the
legislature
no
longer
genuinely
reflects
the
electorate’s
will.