News / National
Zuma team meets GPA negotiators
07 Mar 2013 at 03:36hrs | Views
President Jacob Zuma's facilitation team on Tuesday met Global Political Agreement negotiators to get an update on the preparations for the constitutional referendum set for next week.
Zimbabwe will hold a referendum on Saturday next week.
Zanu-PF negotiator, who is also Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa, yesterday said the facilitation team, led by President Zuma's international relations advisor Ms Lindiwe Zulu, also met Jomic co-chairpersons.
He said the team also wanted to understand steps the GPA parties would take after the referendum.
"The facilitation team came yesterday (Tuesday) and met Jomic chairpersons before we had a bilateral meeting with them," he said.
"In our meeting they wanted to hear about the preparations for the referendum and the challenges we were facing as well as the aftermath."
Minister Chinamasa said they told the facilitation team that the preparations were going on well.
"Things are going according to plan and we told them that after the referendum we will have the Constitutional Bill being gazetted 30 days before it is taken to Parliament. From its passage through Parliament, we will have the President assenting to it and then we have amendments to the electoral law to align it with the new constitution," he said.
"After that we can start preparing for the next stage, which are elections."
He said the team would be back in Zimbabwe next Tuesday, a few days before the referendum.
MDC negotiator and Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga also confirmed the meeting.
"They wanted to see where we were in terms of referendum preparations and the political environment," she said.
"We did highlight to them last week's problems of political violence which are likely to plunge us back into the 2008 era."
The MDC-T has claimed that they had recorded 120 incidents of politically motivated violence.
The party last week hijacked the funeral of a 12-year-old Headlands boy, Christpowers Maisiri, who died in a fire incident in an attempt to portray the boy as a victim of political violence.
Police have, however, said there were no cases of political violence in Zimbabwe saying they had recorded five minor cases from October last year to date.
Police investigations have revealed that the fire was a result of the explosion of tobacco chemicals and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in the thatched hut the boy was sleeping in.
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said they had also complained that crucial appointments had been made to some independent commissions without being consulted.
The GPA principals have resolved to appoint Supreme Court Judge Rita Makarau and Mr Jacob Mudenda as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairpersons respectively
MDC said it would contest the appointments arguing they were never consulted.
Justice Makarau would lead ZEC in anacting capacity up to December.
"We are expecting the team again next week as we continue to engage them and map the way forward.
No comment could be obtained from MDC-T negotiators Mr Tendai Biti and Mr Elton Mangoma.
Zimbabwe will hold a referendum on Saturday next week.
Zanu-PF negotiator, who is also Justice and Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa, yesterday said the facilitation team, led by President Zuma's international relations advisor Ms Lindiwe Zulu, also met Jomic co-chairpersons.
He said the team also wanted to understand steps the GPA parties would take after the referendum.
"The facilitation team came yesterday (Tuesday) and met Jomic chairpersons before we had a bilateral meeting with them," he said.
"In our meeting they wanted to hear about the preparations for the referendum and the challenges we were facing as well as the aftermath."
Minister Chinamasa said they told the facilitation team that the preparations were going on well.
"Things are going according to plan and we told them that after the referendum we will have the Constitutional Bill being gazetted 30 days before it is taken to Parliament. From its passage through Parliament, we will have the President assenting to it and then we have amendments to the electoral law to align it with the new constitution," he said.
"After that we can start preparing for the next stage, which are elections."
He said the team would be back in Zimbabwe next Tuesday, a few days before the referendum.
MDC negotiator and Regional Integration and International Co-operation Minister Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga also confirmed the meeting.
"They wanted to see where we were in terms of referendum preparations and the political environment," she said.
"We did highlight to them last week's problems of political violence which are likely to plunge us back into the 2008 era."
The MDC-T has claimed that they had recorded 120 incidents of politically motivated violence.
The party last week hijacked the funeral of a 12-year-old Headlands boy, Christpowers Maisiri, who died in a fire incident in an attempt to portray the boy as a victim of political violence.
Police have, however, said there were no cases of political violence in Zimbabwe saying they had recorded five minor cases from October last year to date.
Police investigations have revealed that the fire was a result of the explosion of tobacco chemicals and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in the thatched hut the boy was sleeping in.
Mrs Misihairabwi-Mushonga said they had also complained that crucial appointments had been made to some independent commissions without being consulted.
The GPA principals have resolved to appoint Supreme Court Judge Rita Makarau and Mr Jacob Mudenda as Zimbabwe Electoral Commission and Zimbabwe Human Rights Commission chairpersons respectively
MDC said it would contest the appointments arguing they were never consulted.
Justice Makarau would lead ZEC in anacting capacity up to December.
"We are expecting the team again next week as we continue to engage them and map the way forward.
No comment could be obtained from MDC-T negotiators Mr Tendai Biti and Mr Elton Mangoma.
Source - TC
