He said the continued modification of the views gathered during the outreach programme by politicians on the Parliamentary Select Committee rendered it elitist.
“The circus characterizing the process is not good for democracy. Remember that during the outreach exercise, some political parties trained participants about what views to contribute. Others were frog marched to the meeting points. The process was not people-driven and should be rejected if need be,” said Pasirayi, in an exclusive interview.
He bemoaned the fact that civil society organisations were barred from participating in the drafting process.
‘‘To protect its patronage policies, Zanu (PF) continued to resist clauses in the constitution which would result in the reform of security services and appointment of governors. People have the right to reject a constitution they do not like,” he said, adding that civil society’s participation in the process remained limited while political parties continued to unashamedly throw spanners into the process.
“The restricted flow of information through non-partisan and private news media remains a cause for concern, especially as we are approaching general elections,” said Pasirayi.
Post published in: News