20100922
africanews

HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Wednesday said violence and intimidation by the military were hindering attempts to write a new constitution and that he intends to discuss the problem with the president.

A fragile unity government set up by Tsvangirai and President Robert Mugabe last year after disputed 2008 elections is drafting a new charter to replace the independence document drawn up in 1979, a process expected to lead to a fresh vote.

Public consultations on the constitution have highlighted continued tensions between Mugabe's ZANU-PF and Tsvangirai's MDC party. At the weekend clashes became so violent in Harare that officials suspended the process.

"Having carefully considered our position, I am going to meet with other principals (in the unity govt) to map the way forward,"Tsvangirai said referring to Mugabe and Arthur Mutambara, the head of a splinter MDC faction also in the government.

"This process fails to pass the test of legitimacy, credibility and people-drivenness," Tsvangirai told reporters.

"We have noted with concern the militarisation of the process, interfering with a purely civilian process. Reports from all over the country show the heavy involvement of the military in the process," said Tsvangirai.

The drive to write a new constitution is being led by an inter-party parliamentary committee and civic society groups.

Tsvangirai, who beat Mugabe in a first round presidential poll in March 2008, boycotted a run-off vote citing a violent crackdown against his supporters, which the MDC says killed at least 200.