Published by the government of Zimbabwe
21 November 2008
Harare — GOVERNMENT has dismissed MDC-T's complaints over the submission of the draft Constitution of Zimbabwe Number 19 Bill to Cde Thabo Mbeki pointing out that the State has the executive prerogative to initiate such legislative processes.
Secretary for Information and Publicity Cde George Charamba yesterday said there was nothing amiss in Government making the draft and presenting it to the former South African leader, who is the facilitator of the inter-party talks.
He said it should be made clear to the nation that the amendment was not solely about creating an inclusive Government pursuant to the signing of an agreement between Zanu-PF, MDC-T and MDC, as it would also cater for other "outstanding constitutional issues".
"Constitutional amendments are initiated by Government through the responsible ministry.
"The production of the draft of Amendment Number 19 Bill is, in fact, the duty of the Ministry of Justice, Legal and Parliamentary Affairs and they are fulfilling this mandate.
"Any other draft existing anywhere on earth, in heaven or in hell can only be an opinion that can only find relevance at an appropriate stage. No one will hamstring Government from discharging its constitutional role," he said.
This comes in the wake of reports that MDC-T has crafted its own draft and was trying to dismiss the one submitted by the Government to Cde Mbeki earlier this week.
"The substance of Amendment 19 is not singular. It piggybacks several outstanding constitutional issues with the creation of executive offices being but one of many issues. Constitutional issues arising from Zanu-PF and its two political interlocutors is not the matter but rather it is only one matter. Let there be no narrowing of the agenda."
Cde Charamba would not be drawn into revealing what the other issues were though information gathered from various sources indicates the amendment will likely also deal with the Zimbabwe Media Commission, citizenship laws, the Anti-Corruption Commission, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and the Parliamentary Committee on Standing Rules and Orders.
The Herald also understands that the MDC formation led by Professor Arthur Mutambara had an input into the Government draft while MDC-T failed to do so because senior officials from the party had not received any firm assurance from their leadership whether or not to be part of the process.
Cde Charamba said the substance of the agreement the parties signed on September 15 guided the draft and there would be no shifts from the contents of that document, including on the matter of the executive functions of the President, the Prime Minister and his deputies and the Cabinet.
"I don't know where this expectation
of novelty is coming from. Nothing will be new and everything will come from the agreement and, in some instances, word for word. The complaint, or what appears to be one from MDC-T, that they were not consulted is doubly needless.
"It is doubly needless because the consultation was implied by the agreement from which the draft derives. Their (MDC-T) views are known and spelt out in the agreement. What will only be debated on is if the Ministry of Justice has produced a draft that meets the spirit of the agreement.
"Secondly, why have they not allowed the facilitator to extend them the courtesy of giving them the draft? Government or Zanu-PF cannot give them the draft and it will come to them from Cde Mbeki, which is why we gave it to him in the first place.
"I happen to know personally that President Mugabe has been most insistent that the spirit of tripartism, which animated the whole process, must be upheld; that the role of the office of the facilitator as the conduit for document circulation and as a platform for consultations and negotiations should be respected.
"What MDC-T has done is to pre-empt a courtesy. Can they cool it, please?"
Cde Mbeki has summoned the parties to a meeting in South Africa next week where they will consider the draft that is on the table.
The MDC Mutambara formation picked up a copy of the draft from the South African Embassy in Harare on Tuesday.
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