Zimpapers Logo

The Herald, August 4, 1979

LUSAKA. — The British prime minister, Mrs Margaret Thatcher, yesterday described the Constitution of Zimbabwe Rhodesia as defective and criticised the white minority veto powers enshrined in it.

Mrs Thatcher told a closed-door session of the Commonwealth conference here a “blocking mechanism has not appeared in any other independence constitution agreed to by the British Parliament”.

Mrs Thatcher said there was general agreement that, “there should be some guaranteed representation for minority communities during a certain minimum period following the transfer of power”.

The other main criticism of the Constitution relating to the composition and powers of various service commission is also valid,” she said.

“It is clearly wrong that the Government should not have adequate control over certain senior appointments,” she said, without specifying which appointments she had in mind.

She told her colleagues from 39 nations: “There are those who seem to believe that the world should simply go on treating Bishop Abel Muzorewa as if he were Mr Ian Smith.

“But the change that has taken place cannot be dismissed as of no consequence… There is now an African president, an African prime minister, and an African majority in Parliament.”

At one stage she declared firmly: “I simply do not believe that there is anything now dividing the people of Rhodesia which is worth the use of the bomb and the gun to kill and maim men, women and children by the thousands or which can justify the misery of hundreds in refugee camps.”

A special correspondent in Lusaka reports: Mrs Thatcher has produced a tight timetable for an all-party conference on Zimbabwe Rhodesia with a deadline of November 15.

She apparently let it be known that she regards the November deadline — when the current British order in council on sanction expires — as the cut-off for the new initiative.

Well before then, she wants to see a roundtable conference, agreement on constitutional changes and acceptance of a referendum or a full election to the test the views of the Zimbabwe Rhodesian people as a whole and thus fulfil the fifth principle laid down by successive British Governments.

LESSONS FOR TODAY

• The former colonial masters were very cunning and were determined to hold on to power by any means possible, to the extent of trying to deceive their own kith and kin. Veto power is dangerous especially when it’s vested in the hands of the minority.
• The British Government was initially reluctant to act on its subjects in Zimbabwe Rhodesia until it was made to see the real situation in the country especially the defective constitution upon which the purported ‘majority’ rule was being implemented.
• The Commonwealth conference in Lusaka, Zambia made the British realise that a negotiated settlement that includes all parties was the only way for there to be a lasting solution on majority rule in the country.
• The war of liberation was an essential element that forced all parties to the negotiating table as it continued to raise questions on whether the country was truly under majority rule, under Bishop Abel Muzorewa since the fighting was continuing unabated.