No single party can stop reforms: Speaker

Moyo reacting to attempts by Members of Parliament (MPs) from President Robert Mugabes ZANU PF party to stall the reform process said it would require the leaders of the three political parties in the unity government to order a stop to efforts to write a new governance charter for the country.

“No-one, no party can stop the process of the constitution except leaders of the global political agreement (power-sharing agreement),” Moyo said.

Public hearings on the new constitution that were due to start at the weekend had to be postponed to the end of the month after ZANU PF legislators insisted the exercise be delayed, raising fears Mugabes party may want to scuttle the whole constitutional reform process.

But Moyo said Parliament had been tasked to lead the constitutional reforms but had no powers to stop the process.

“Parliament is just part of the process of having the new constitution. They (ZANU PF) have not communicated anything yet. I am not aware that they have said the process must be stopped, he said.

The public hearings will be held between June 24 and 27 in all the countrys 10 provinces and will culminate in an all stakeholders conference to be held between 9-12 July.

Moyo said the issue of resources that ZANU PF had cited in pushing for postponement of the public hearings had been resolved, adding that the parliamentary select committee that is spearheading the drafting process had agreed on a budget for the exercise that he said was going to be made public by the finance ministry.

The 25-member parliamentary committee comprises members from ZANU PF and the two formations of the MDC.

Apart from lawmakers, more people drawn from business, students, rights groups, churches, media, womens groups, labour and farmers among others shall be tasked to assist the parliamentary select committee that will however have final say in the drafting of the new constitution.

The draft constitution will be put before the electorate in a referendum expected in July next year and if approved by Zimbabweans will then be brought before Parliament for enactment.

Once a new constitution is in place, the power-sharing government is expected to then call fresh parliamentary, presidential and local government elections.

Zimbabwe is currently governed under the 1979 Constitution agreed at the Lancaster House talks in London.

The constitution has been amended 19 times since the countrys independence in 1980 and critics say the changes have only helped to entrench Mugabe and ZANU PFs stranglehold on power.