The Minister of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs, Patrick Chinamasa
will table the bill in the House of Assembly during the session.
Constitutional amendment number 19 bill is designed to facilitate the
implementation of the 15 September Global Peace Agreement that was signed by
President Robert Mugabe of Zanu-PF, MDC leaders, Morgan Tsvangirai and
Arthur Mutambara.
MDC legislators vowed not to pass the bill, which favours Zanu-PF. They said
the bill should represent the will of the people as the country awaits a new
constitution.
"We will make sure wet what the people want. We were chosen to represent the
people and we are going to do that," said an MDC MP in Bulawayo.
Clerk of Parliament Austin Zvoma revealed that the minister of Justice would
give notice of his intention to table the Bill before it could be captured
on the Order Paper, a schedule that shows parliamentary business for the
day.
"It is the duty of the minister responsible for any Bill to rise and give
notice on when he intends to present a Bill. We expect that to happen when
the House resumes sitting," he told the state-run media.
According to the proposed constitutional amendment, President Mugabe remains
Head of State and Government deputised by Vice Presidents Joseph Msika and
Joice Mujuru while Tsvangirai becomes Prime Minister with the leader of the
other MDC splinter group Mutambara, and MDC vice president Thokozani Khupe
deputising him.
Government is also expected to introduce other regulations under the
constitutional amendment.
Some of them include the establishment of a Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission
to promote human rights and investigate any abuses in the country.
Constitutional Amendment (Number 19) also provides for the establishment and
functions of the Zimbabwe Media Commission.
The functions of the commission would be to uphold and develop freedom of
the media, promote and enforce good practice and ethics in the profession,
ensure equitable and wide access to information and develop all indigenous
languages spoken in the country.
Zimbabwe has the toughest media regulations and many journalists have been
arrested, kidnapped and killed for working for the private media. The
state-controlled Media and Information Commission recently announced high
accreditation fees for foreign media houses.
Harare tribune