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This article participates on the following special index pages:
New Constitution-making process - Index of articles
Constitution drafting process ongoing
The
Constitutional Select Committee (COPAC)
January 13, 2012
The Constitution
Select Committee, COPAC, is pleased to announce that during the
drafting
process that commenced recently is on-going. The three principal
drafters, Justice Moses Chinhengo, Mrs. Priscilla Madzonga and Mr.
Brian Crozier commenced work on the 5th of December 2011 and have
already submitted four chapters to the Select Committee for review.
The Select Committee,
in line with terms of reference accorded by Article V1 of the GPA,
has completed the process of identifying and filling the gaps existing
in the information gathered during the outreach and is also reviewing
the first four chapters that came from the drafters.
When the drafters
commenced work on the 5th of January, the Select Committee had not
finished the process of gap filling. This process has since been
concluded and the drafters are now continuing with their work using
the new instructions that they got from the Select Committee. If,
for example, in the process of drafting they still come across gaps,
they bring these to the attention of the Select Committee. The drafters,
in the new instructions, will only use the agreed concepts given
to them by the Select Committee. It has also been made clear in
the instructions that the drafters shall not interpret what the
people of Zimbabwe said.
The drafters
have also been trained to advise the Select Committee on matters
relating to international best practice and all the drafts they
will produce shall remain proposals until they are approved by the
Select Committee. The drafting process shall be both iterative and
interactive in order to allow the parties to achieve consensus.
The Select Committee,
with the assistance of the technical experts, is in the mean time
busy reviewing the preliminary four drafts, which are merely works
in progress and doing further research for areas where this is necessary.
This ensures that the draft being produced by he drafters is complete.
Any judgment on these preliminary chapters is therefore premature
as the Select Committee itself is seized with deliberating upon
these drafts during which process they are subject to changes and
continuous development until they reach their final form. Issues
which the Select Committee had initially failed to reach consensus
on and were generally referred to as 'parked issues'
have also been subjected to further discussion in an effort to gain
common ground. This has resulted in some issues being removed from
the list thereby expediting the drafting process.
COPAC would
like to take this opportunity to reaffirm its commitment to spearheading
a people-driven constitution-making process, which is also inclusive
and democratic. Tangible outcomes have already been achieved from
the process so far, and all stakeholders are being urged to support
the process in this critical and final stage before the Second All
Stakeholders' Conference. At this conference, Zimbabweans
will through representatives, have the chance to comment on the
draft. COPAC will ensure that the draft, when ready, is available
in local languages and in Braille.
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