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Makoni Urges Governing Parties to Release Constitution Report


Former Finance Minister and leader of the Mavambo Kusile Dawn party is calling on the parliamentary committee in charge of the constitutional revision process, COPAC, to release a detailed report of issues that were agreed on by the unity government principals.

MKD leader Simba Makoni told a news conference in Harare on Wednesday that his party wants the unity government principals and COPAC to release the report and spell out the issues that had stalled the constitution revision process.

President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, his deputy Arthur Mutambara, and leader of the other Movement for Democratic Change formation, Welshman Ncube, met at State House last Thursday and approved compromises and changes that COPAC members made to a number of key sections of the draft charter.

The changes were made to bridge the parties' differences over issues, such as devolution and the role of the attorney general.

Makoni said it is in the public interest for a report to be published so that Zimbabweans can see exactly what changes were made.

The MKD leader and former Zanu-PF Politburo member said his party will take a position of whether to campaign for or against the adoption of the draft constitution in a referendum after scrutinizing its contents despite the process having been fraught with irregularities.

Makoni also castigated Zanu-PF’s COPAC co-chair Paul Mangwana who was quoted in the media as saying if the draft constitution is rejected, President Mugabe may call for elections on the terms of the constitution but without the 19th amendment that established the unity government.

The 19th amendment names Mr. Mugabe as president and Mr. Tsvangirai as prime minister.

Makoni said he would like to see a grand coalition of democratic parties and groups ahead of the elections expected to be held sometime this year.

He contested in the 2008 presidential polls, receiving 8 percent of the vote. It was a strong enough showing to force a second round of voting, which was disputed and led to the formation of the unity government.
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Meanwhile, foreign engagements by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are delaying the proclamation of a date for the long delayed constitutional referendum that will pave way for general election later this year.

Mr. Tsvangirai is currently in Davos, Switzerland, attending the World Economic Forum meeting. Mr. Mugabe is expected to leave Harare on Friday for the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The two leaders had been expected to meet Thursday to receive the complete draft constitution then discuss the date for the referendum. But the meeting has been pushed to next week.

However, Mr. Tsvangirai speaking to Bloomberg in Switzerland said the referendum will be in March and elections will follow thereafter. He said the referendum will be a mere formality since there is national consensus by all parties.

Efforts to reach Mr. Tsvangirai’s acting spokesman William Bango in Davos were futile as he did not pick up his phone.

Chairman Lovemore Madhuku of the National Constitutional Assembly that has been campaigning against the constitution-making process said Mr. Tsvangirai is misleading himself by claiming there is consensus on the constitutional draft.
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