Copac has not altered draft constitution

By Tichaona Sibanda

COPAC has not altered the draft constitution after the Second All-Stakeholders conference, because suggested changes were shot down by delegates, a COPAC co-chairman said on Thursday.

Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC-T spokesman and COPAC co-Chairman, told SW Radio Africa a national report on the conference makes it clear that many of the issues recommended during the conference were rejected.

COPAC handed over the national report to the management committee in Harare on Thursday evening. The Nyanga North MP explained that they will get directions from the management committee on the way forward, once they go through the report.

‘The report we handed today (Thursday) shows all the recommendations made during the conference and how they were rejected. The amendments were not adopted simply because there was no consensus. We can only interfere with the draft if there was consensus on all parties involved,’ Mwonzora said.

The legislator said he’s hopeful the draft will be tabled before parliament soon to enable them to complete the drafting of a new charter for Zimbabwe. After debate in parliament the draft will then be put to a referendum, before the country can have elections under a new constitution in 2013.

The adoption of the new constitution is a critical step towards holding free and fair elections after the 2009 formation of the inclusive government.

The unity government emerged in the wake of the violent 2008 polls that saw ZANU PF lose its parliamentary majority for the first time since the country gained independence from Britain in 1980. SW Radio Africa