The Rhodesian transitional government's proposed independence constitution, published in full on 2 January 1979, has further confirmed the white minority's determination to cling to power – even while the administration and apparatus of government crumble about them. It is due to be submitted to the white electorate for approval through a referendum on 30 January, prior to general elections scheduled for 20 April. Under the internal settlement agreement of 3 March 1978, the Rhodesian Front would remain in effective control of the parliamentary process and the key institutions of state power for a period of at least ten years. The new constitution draws heavily on the March agreement, but contains even further concessions to white supremacy. (The full text of the 3 March agreement is reproduced as an appendix to Smith's Settlement: Events in Zimbabwe since 3 March 1978, IDAF Fact Paper no. 6, June 1978).
Details of nine out of eleven chapters of the constitution, which has been drafted by a team nominated by each of the four parties to the internal settlement, were first released to the press on 1 October 1978. Other proposals were announced by the regime's Executive Council at the end of November. The main provisions of the constitution are: * The country is to be renamed "Zimbabwe-Rhodesia" after the advent of majority rule. * A range of safeguards for the white minority are to be entrenched in the constitution for at least 10 years – including a bill of rights, "non-political" security forces, an impartial judiciary and security of civil service jobs and pensions (i.e. euphemisms for continued white control of these key institutions), and permission to hold dual citizenship. Entrenched constitutional clauses can only be changed or abolished with the affirmative vote of at least 78 members of the lower house (House of Assembly). * 28 seats in the 100-member House of Assembly will be reserved for whites and will form a blocking mechanism against constitutional change – at least 6 whites will have to vote in favour of any amendment to the entrenched constitutional clauses to achieve the required 78 seat majority. 20 of the white members will be elected on a preferential system by white voters only, and the remaining 8 will be elected by the other 92 House of Assembly members from a list of 16 candidates nominated, in the case of the first election, by the 50 white members of the present Parliament (all of whom represent the Rhodesian Front). In subsequent elections the 8 members will be elected by the other 92 MPs from among 16 candidates nominated by the 28 white members of the House of Assembly.
These arrangements for electing the 8 white MPs represent a significant compromise on the 3 March agreement. Originally, they were to have been returned by black and white voters on the common roll though the medium of a general election. On 29 November 1978, however, the regime's Registrar-General announced that it had been decided to revise the voting arrangements for these seats, because "the problem with that plan was that the unsophisticated tribesman would have been confronted with a list of 16 white candidates he had not heard of before". The 8 members would now be selected by an electoral college composed of the rest of the House of Assembly. (BBC 1.12.78) * The 72 black MPs in the House of Assembly will be elected by voters of all races registered on the common voters' roll. It was agreed on 30 November to adopt a system of proportional representation for the estimated 2.8 million black voters entitled to take part in the April 1979 elections. The country is to be divided into 8 provinces based on existing administrative boundaries, to which parliamentary seats will be allocated in proportion to the number of potential voters in each region. Voting is to be conducted on a party list system. Seats in the House of Assembly will then be apportioned according to the number of votes cast for each party. According to a statement from the Executive Council "the principal advantage of this system is that it obviates the need for a prior registration of black voters which would have delayed the holding of the first election by several months". (Tel. 1.12.78). * The Senate or upper house will comprise 10 white senators appointed by the 28 white members of the House of Assembly, 10 black senators appointed by the 72 black MPs and 10 Chiefs (5 representing Mashonaland and 5 from Matabeleland) elected by the existing council of Chiefs. The Senate can delay the passage of legislation for up to 180 days. * It was announced on 30 November 1978 that the government established after the April elections will be one of "national unity". The new prime minister will apportion cabinet seats in proportion to the number of seats held by each party in parliament – meaning that the whites (around 3% of the population) will hold at least 28% of the cabinet appointments. Only parties holding 5 or more seats will be entitled to representation in the Cabinet. This provision, which amounts to a further guarantee of Rhodesian Front dominance and the maintenance of the status quo, is to stand for 5 years or the life of one parliament. * The President, described as "non-executive" and appointed for 6 years by a parliamentary caucus of senators and MPs, will be empowered to appoint the prime minister or to dismiss him if he fails to win a parliamentary vote of confidence. * State power: The security forces, police, judiciary and civil service will be controlled and thereby kept free from "political interference" by 4 commissions comprised of senior civil servants and other persons considered appropriately qualified (i.e. effectively excluding the vast majority of blacks). The commissions which in effect will amount to a "government within a government", will be appointed by the President – meaning that the latter in practice wields power of a crucial kind. The commanders of the police, army and airforce will also be appointed by the President on the recommendations of "independent and impartial bodies". * Local government: It was also announced at the end of November that Regional Authorities would be created, the members of which would be elected "directly or indirectly" by the inhabitants of the area concerned. Matters such as education and health would be controlled by the local community through the medium of such authorities. In effect, this is a device to reassure whites that in the most sensitive areas of race relations, they will remain in control of decisions which directly affect their day-to-day lives. The proposals are in fact an extension of existing Rhodesian Front policy of "provincialisation", (which has much in common with South Africa's bantustan programme). (Tel. 1.12.78; BBC 2.12.78) * Land: White dominance of the land is entrenched in the bill of rights by a provision that no property of any description may be expropriated except with a court order, granted where the court is satisfied that the acquisition is necessary on certain defined grounds. Agricultural land will not be subject for expropriation unless it can be proved that it has not been used for agricultural purposes for a continuous period of at least 5 years. Where any expropriation does take place, compensation must be paid "promptly" and can be freely remitted outside the country without reference to exchange control regulations. This means that any black government contemplating the far-reaching redistribution of land required to correct the many decades of accumulated injustice under the Land Apportionment and Land Tenure Acts, would have to reckon on a massive flight of capital. * Pensions: All civil service, armed forces and police pensions will be payable outside the country free of exchange control restrictions. * Preventive detention: A person may be detained for up to 14 days without charge and thereafter on the issue of a detention order by the Minister. A detainee's case must be reviewed after one month and thereafter every 6 months. "Torture and inhuman treatments or degrading punishments of individuals" are prohibited. (National Observer 23.9.78; SM 1.10.78; T/GN 2.10.78; GN 3.1.79; BBC 4.1.79)
