The two political foes are engaged in talks under South African mediation that are aimed at finding a solution to Zimbabwe’s long running political and economic crisis.
The draft constitution that is said to contain other key provisions such as limitation of presidential tenure to two five-year terms, a bill of rights and an independent electoral commission, will require the backing of especially President Robert Mugabe and the leaders of the two MDC factions to have any chance of becoming law.
Authoritative sources said the draft constitution proposes the scrapping of direct government control of the media as at present and in place provides for the setting up of a Voluntary Media Council (VMC) and a Media Complaints Council (MCC) to oversee the media.
Media bodies will nominate people to sit on the two councils but a balance is struck through a clause providing for the councils to be accountable to the Minister of Information.
The new constitutional provisions will give the media independence to choose who sits on the media council and on the media complaints council. The minister has limited powers as he/she does not appoint anyone to the councils but the two bodies still have to be accountable to the minister, said our source.
The VMC will have regulatory functions while the MCC will primarily function as a platform for members of the public and other media consumers to lodge complaints of wrong or unfair treatment by the media.
Presently, the government tightly controls the media through the Media and Information Commission that issues licences to journalists and newspapers to operate in Zimbabwe. The state-appointed commission can withdraw licences from newspapers and journalists when it deems it necessary.
It has in the past four years closed four independent newspapers including Zimbabwe’s largest daily paper, The Daily News, for failure to comply with the government’s tough media laws.
A state-appointed Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe exercises tight control of the airwaves, denying licences to prospecting broadcasting companies to leave the government’s Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings the only radio and television services provider in the country. Â
However, it remains to be seen whether the country’s political leaders and Parliament will adopt the draft constitution as the fundamental law of the country.
Mugabe, upon whom almost everything else depends, has opposed a new constitution. But reports emanating from his ZANU PF party suggest he could accept the draft constitution after presidential and parliamentary elections pencilled in for March next year. – ZimOnline
Post published in: News