Zimbabwe's draft constitution is expected to be ready for a referendum by September, and not in June, as scheduled, the constitutional affairs minister said yesterday.
The new charter is meant to clear the way for fresh polls following the country's bloody 2008 elections, but the drafting is running months behind schedule. Public outreach meetings were repeatedly postponed because of violence.
President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe should push ahead with elections even if the parties to the shaky power- sharing government fail to agree on a new constitution.
Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai this month called for a "divorce" in the unity government, urging elections under a plan devised by the Southern African Development Community. SADC is expected to take up the issue at a summit next week.
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