Zimbabwe: Constitutional Referendum in Zimbabwe (continued)

"I think if we come up with a 'no' vote, it will be a 'no' on the contents of the draft constitution. It does not mean we would go back to the Lancaster House constitution."

"The people have passed a clear judgment that they were not happy with the existing constitution during the consultations carried out by the Constitutional Commission before compiling the draft," the cleric added.

The referendum was then held on 12 and 13 February and the result was a majority "no vote'. Out of a total of 1 312 738 votes cast, 697 754 were against the draft and 578 210 endorsed it.

NCA and opposition parties took the ruling party to the cleaners making enormous political mileage. They said the rejection was a clear vote of no confidence in the government. They charged that people were fed up with ZANU-PF rule and they called on the President and his government to resign.

Morgan Tsvangirai, president of the labour backed party Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) said, "In a normal democracy when a sitting government suffers such a defeat, the honourable thing is to resign."

Margaret Dongo, president of the Zimbabwe Union of Democrats (ZUD), which holds down a seat in parliament, said by voting 'no' people were making a statement that they were sick and tired of ZANU-PF rule. She said people were not only voting against the draft constitution but also expressing dissatisfaction with the government which they blame for all the hardships they were facing - the rising cost in living, shortages of fuel and other essential commodities.

The 'no vote' victory was a surprise to all stakeholders involved even its campaigners. NCA's Mike Auret had previously said, "There is a 'no' majority in the country all right, but there is no way that the government will allow that majority is honestly counted."

The Registrar-General, castigated by his detractors as partisan (a known Zanu PF supporter) and accused rigging in previous elections, said soon after announcing the final results: "I think the results spoke for themselves."

That night, President Mugabe appeared on national television and declared that his government accepted the referendum results. He however said the 'no vote' result was not based on analysis of the draft constitution but instead a reaction to the harsh economic climate in the country.

The Commission did not take the defeat lightly. Later in the month, they attempted to take the draft to parliament and have it endorsed through the legislature; critics charged, a clear disregard of the expressed will of the people.

Within the month invasions of white-owned commercial farms by war veterans began. The resultant mayhem led to the deaths of more than 23 people including, a policeman and members of the opposition MDC, 4 white farmers and farm workers.

The victory of the 'no vote' appears to have galvanised opposition and the electorate, and brought the centre stage the electoral process as an instrument of political change. Only about 1.3 million of the registered 5 million voters participated in the referendum.

Evidently excited about the political events of the last half year, 5.8 million voters registered for the forthcoming parliamentary elections, a figure that is the highest attained to date for any elections held in Zimbabwe.