The indaba that started Thursday will also provide CSO’s with a platform to analyze the COPAC draft constitution. The 2nd All-Stakeholders conference kicks off in Harare on Sunday with at least 1,100 delegates expected to attend. Among the participants will be 246 political party representatives, 284 MPs and 571 civil society representatives.
The constitution-making process has been characterized by bickering, threats and disagreements, including the disruption of the first All-Stakeholders conference by militant supporters of ZANU PF. The bickering hasn’t subsided among the political parties, setting the tone for another possible confrontation ahead of the conference.
COPAC and both MDC formations want this second conference to be used as a feedback platform. But ZANU PF insists it wants a protracted discussion of the draft, with the contents pitted against the national report. They say that COPAC deviated from the views given by the people during the outreach program.
COPAC denies this, arguing the document is an authentic reflection of the people’s wishes, adding that the COPAC draft will be the only principal document to be tabled for discussion during the conference.
A draft constitution was completed in July this year as part of key reforms ahead of elections expected in the first half of next year. The proposed draft, which will be subject to a referendum, was crafted by experts from the main political parties involved in the power-sharing government that has been in place since a violence-marred 2008 election.
Although analysts and experts agree the draft is a highly compromised document, they also say that the draft contains some positive changes. These include the fact that the Head of State has to consult parliament and the cabinet on key appointments, while it protects a serving president from prosecution, the immunity falls away when the President leaves office, an issue that concerns Mugabe’s party and there is a 10 year Presidential limit.
Dewa Mavhinga, a research fellow with the newly formed Zimbabwe Democracy Institute, told us while the new charter will not be a game changer in next year’s poll, he believes it will tackle both the social and political ills that have plagued the country for decades.
‘While challenges remain part of the country’s reality, the constitution, if it passes the stakeholders conference, will present a plethora of changes to the way the country is governed. While many Zimbabweans say that this is just a start and that things could still go very wrong, most believe it is a fundamentally better document than the current constitution,’ Mavhinga said. – SW Radio Africa News
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