HARARE - Copac co-chair Edward Mkhosi says Zimbabwes new constitution Will be a civilised document, consistent with the general beliefs of the wider progressive world.
It would not carry outrageous views that were contributed by some radical political activists, said Mkhosi, a legislator from Welshman Ncubes MDC.
The number of times a contribution was made during the outreach process would be a big factor in coming up with a new national charter, but all contributions would still have to pass the qualitative test.
We are taking both what the people said and the quality of what they said, said Mkhosi in an interview with The Zimbabwean on the sidelines of ongoing Copac Thematic Committee meetings at a Harare hotel on Friday.
We look at what is happening throughout the world and in other constitutions. For example, if people say only boys must be allowed to get education, we proceed to look at the quality of that contribution by comparing that with what is happening within the wider progressive world. We are in the 21st century and the thinking must be at that level.
Mkhosis comments followed sharp differences between Zanu (PF) and the two MDC formations over what format to use in order to condense the wide range of views contributed by the citizens.
Zanu (PF) representatives are agitating for a near referendum method to be employed during the packaging process.
Sources privy to the heated discussions say Zanu (PF) wants the numbers to be used in capturing the content of the new constitution, while MDC wants the quality of the views to be the deciding factor.
This comes after militant Zanu (PF) activists commandeered thousands of villagers to different Copac meetings countrywide, coached them to parrot the partys views and barred those with independent thoughts from contributing.
In most cases, villagers were forced to contribute extreme views such as calling for a death penalty to be imposed on those supporting western imposed sanctions and local journalists who write lies about the country.
Some were advocating a complete blackout on news from inside Zimbabwe to be enshrined in the new national charter.
Mkhosi said everything said during the outreach process would be packaged and forwarded to constitutional experts, who would sieve off chaff and convert the residue into a competitive document.
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