{{Legal and political analysts say politi\u00adcal party leaders have authority to effect changes to the Zimbabwe draft constitu\u00adtion con\u00adtrary to what MDC-T leader Mor\u00adgan Tsvangirai said on Wednesday after meeting South African President Jacob Zuma.}} <\/p>\n
The Sadc-appointed facilitator was in Harare on Wednesday to meet leaders of parties to the GPA to assess progress made in the implementation of the accord.<\/p>\n
Tsvangirai, who is Prime Minis\u00adter in the inclusive Government, claimed principals had no \u201cveto power\u201d over Copac. <\/p>\n
However, analysts said Copac\u2019s role ended with the handing over of the draft constitution to the management committee \u2014 which was set up by the principals and not by the GPA.<\/p>\n
Harare lawyer Mr Farai Mutamangira said the basis upon which the entire constitution-making process is premised is, article 6 of the GPA.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut differently the constitution making exercise derives its mandate from a political agreement, and the Principals as the parties to the GPA, have the privilege to affirm an agreement or lack thereof, as among themselves in respect of the draft constitution,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn doing so they do no more than exercise the contractual mandate they derive from the GPA. You will recall that the same Principals had previously drawn up and signed off as agreeable the Kariba Draft, which is annexure ” B” to the GPA.<\/p>\n
\u201cClearly the new draft is intended to supplant the Kariba Draft, and its political and legal significance is no more than the Kariba Draft, and in any event much weaker because it has not garnered a consensus of all the Parties to the GPA.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately the legal significance of the new draft is that it can not assume an importance beyond that of the GPA, until the principals accept it and integrate it with the GPA and initiate the formal referendum process through parliament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mutamangira said the involvement of the select committee of parliament does not change, this position, in the absence of an Act of Parliament constituting the select committee by law, such as the select committee of Kenya which was constituted under the Constitution of Kenya Review Act number 9 of 2008.<\/p>\n
Prominent Harare lawyer, Mr Jonathan Samkange concurred saying referring a document to someone subjects it to the whims of the person or people it has been referred to.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that this draft was referred to the management commit\u00adtee which was created by the princi\u00adpals means that the management committee was supposed to carry their mandate on behalf of the princi\u00adpals. <\/p>\n
\u201cThis is just basic logic that the man\u00adagement committee will then have to submit the document to the principals so that they can audit to see if they fol\u00adlowed the instruction.\u201d <\/p>\n
Samkange said the principals had the mandate to effect changes to the draft constitution if they felt their emis\u00adsaries did not capture what they wanted. <\/p>\n
He described the principals as the highest political offices with the final say on the draft constitution.<\/p>\n
Political analyst and Zanu-PF polit\u00adburo member, Cde Jonathan Moyo said Tsvangirai\u2019s statement was mislead\u00ading. <\/p>\n
He said the final draft constitution was not a product of Copac but the management committee. <\/p>\n
\u201cWhat the Prime Minister said reflects either ignorance about Copac and its composition or a dishonest attitude and his disrespect of Sadc because everybody except the Prime Minister knows that the July 18 draft constitution was prepared by the management committee which is a forum of negotiators and not part of Copac,\u201d Prof Moyo said. <\/p>\n
He said the management commit\u00adtee was not Copac contrary to what Mr Tsvangirai said. <\/p>\n
\u201cMinisters Patrick Chinamasa, Nicholas Goche, Tendai Biti, Elton Mangoma, Priscilla Misihairabwi, Moses Mzila Ndlovu and Eric Mati\u00adnenga are the management commit\u00adtee and none of them is a member of Copac. <\/p>\n
\u201cOnly Copac co-chairpersons, Paul Mangwana, Douglas Mwonzora and Edward Mkhosi are members of Copac but they had no role in the preparation of the final draft. <\/p>\n
\u201cThey were just used as messengers between the management committee and the drafters. It is common knowl\u00adedge that when the management committee finished the draft, they sent it to Copac and Copac members were made to endorse it without read\u00ading its contents. <\/p>\n
Copac neither crafted this draft nor read it before their endorsement. <\/p>\n
\u201cFor the PM to say this is a Copac draft which cannot be amended by principals, it is either ignorance of the actual process or an expression of his disrespect of Sadc because the facts speak for themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll along until yesterday (Wednes\u00adday) when he met President Zuma, Tsvangirai has been saying the draft constitution would be a negotiated document. <\/p>\n
\u201cCopac is not a negotiating forum but a Parliamentary Select Commit\u00adtee which was supposed to produce a people-driven constitution and not a negotiated constitution. <\/p>\n
\u201cCopac failed to do that and it also failed to publish the people\u2019s views and the result was the draft constitu\u00adtion was negotiated by the manage\u00adment committee which is a forum of GPA negotiations and that com\u00admittee reports directly to political principals who created it,\u201d Prof Moyo said. <\/p>\n
He said the principals and their political parties would have a final say about the fate of the draft constitu\u00adtion. <\/p>\n
Prof Moyo urged Mr Tsvangirai to help the process by getting his politi\u00adcal party \u201cto play ball\u201d.<\/p>\n
Herald<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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