Zimbabwe Political Parties and Experts Begin Drafting New Constitution
Parliamentary select committee co-chairman Douglas Mwonzora said the political parties will devise a conflict-resolution mechanism
After the constitutional draft has been completed the parliamentary select committee will hold a second all-stakeholders conference before the document is tabled in Parliament After many months of preparatory activities, Zimbabwean politicians and expert drafters on Monday officially began rewriting the country's constitution. Constitutional Parliamentary Committee Co-Chairman Paul Mangwana of ZANU-PF said politicians and experts will base the draft on the compilation of views of the public recently completed except for a number of points not covered by the data. He said the drafting will take about 35 days. Committee Co-Chairman Douglas Mwonzora of the Movement for Democratic Change formation of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai confirmed drafting has begun. Mwonzora said the political parties, often at odds within the unity government, will come up with a conflict resolution mechanism so differences will not delay the process. Mwonzora said the constitution-making process has gone well so far despite differences between ZANU-PF and the MDC. But he said funding remains an issue as the constitutional committee does not have enough money to fulfill its mandate. After the draft has been completed the parliamentary select committee will hold a second all-stakeholders conference before the document is tabled in Parliament. Officials said the date for the national referendum on the draft will be set by President Robert Mugabe in consultation with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.