We did not sell out: Mwonzora

“I can safely say that we won. All our outstanding issues were ironed out and we stand to benefit more. We are going to have an Independent National Prosecutor and we now have a President who has limited powers,” Mwonzora told The Zimbabwean.

“People should not be brainwashed by political analysts who are spreading lies saying that we gave in. Everyone should read the draft constitution and make an informed judgement,” he said.

Mwonzora insisted all parties would have an equal opportunity to campaign freely as the security forces were now prohibited from interfering in party politics by the new draft.

“For years, we have been facing challenges dealing with the security forces as they had remained partisan. Some of them were even perpetuating violence – but that will now be history,” he said.

Commenting on the issue of the running mate clause, which was been deferred for 10 years and provides that presidential candidates must have two people from whom they can choose a successor in the event they win an election but decided to step down subsequently, Mwonzora said it was never an MDC-T issue.

“Zanu (PF) was uncomfortable with the running mate clause and we reached a compromise .We have successfully and faithfully carried out the mandate of the people,” he added.

The agreed draft will be tabled before Parliament on February 8 after which public awareness campaigns will be rolled out paving way for elections later this year.