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MDC-T has endorsed the draft constitution and has urged members of the public to vote for it in the forthcoming referendum, setting the stage for a bruising contest with Zanu PF, which has not committed itself on the new charter.

 

Party spokesperson, Douglas Mwonzora, said the party's national executive had agreed to endorse the draft and this would be forwarded to the national council next Friday to come up with a final position.

"People should vote 'yes'", Mwonzora, who represented the MDC-T in Copac, told a press conference in Harare yesterday. “This is an opportunity we cannot afford to lose. if properly looked at; this is the best document we have had since 1896."

He conceded that there were some civil society, groups that were against the draft, but said these were in the minority. "There are two groups within civic society the majority of which support this constitution. Those who are criticising it, were criticising it before we even started working on it," he said.

Without mentioning names, he took an apparent dig at Zanu PF politburo member, Jonathan Moyo, saying those who were criticising the draft were angry, as they had been left out of Copac by their respective parties.

Moyo has taken a hard-line stance against the draft, often using acres of space in the state media to criticise it. Mwonzora said there would be no more negotiations on the new charter, describing Zanu PF representative, Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana as a "sober" negotiator.

This is in contrast with the mood within Zanu PF, where Justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa and Transport minister, Nicholas Goche, are in the firing line for bending backwards and not fully representing the party in the constitution.

Mwonzora said, among other things, the draft was good as it “had the largest Bill of Rights section on the continent". It guaranteed freedom of speech and the media. 

It also granted devolution of power to the provinces, he said.

But an insider who attended the meeting, said there were still some issues that the party was not comfortable with.

"The number of parliamentarians is too large at 270 and some members were not happy about the manner in which devolution is described," the source said.

The insider said most of the issues the party was not happy with, would be ironed out at an all-stakeholders meeting, which is due to be held before the referendum.

Source: The Standard