Maravi

(TALKZIMBABWE) Further divisions emerge in MDC-T

Further divisions emerge in MDC-T
Petros Maunze/Herald
Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:01:00 +0000

THE divisions in the MDC-T over the constitution-making process have become more pronounced with the party publicly slamming its deputy national treasurer, Elton Mangoma, for signing a document that says the Kariba Draft should guide Parliament and the main political parties in the crafting of a new supreme national law.

Mangoma immediately defended himself, saying he was not representing the party when he appended his signature to a statement from the negotiators to the talks that led to the formation of the inclusive Government indicating that the 2007 Kariba Draft was the guiding document to the constitution-making process.

He said he had signed in his capacity as "a negotiator and not as an MDC-T representative".

"That is the position of the negotiators, not the party. Negotiators were clarifying on what it is they agreed on. I was not signing as the party," he said.

That party's secretary-general Tendai Biti did not sign the document because he was reportedly out of the country.

He, and Mangoma were MDC-T’s negotiators to the inter-party talks and represent the party in the Joint Monitoring and Implementation Committee overseeing the implementation of the Global Political Agreement.

Asked who then was he representing when he signed the statement, Mangoma said: "You are trying to look for conflict where there is no conflict. I do not know what you are talking about. That is the position of the negotiators."

However, it is understood that MDC-T is under immense pressure from its traditional civil society allies over the status of the Kariba Draft and the statement released last week.

On Tuesday MDC-T spokesperson Nelson Chamisa denied that civil society pressure was coming to bear and told The Herald newspaper that Mangoma knew the party was against the Kariba Draft when he signed the statement.

Chamisa said the Kariba Draft had "no role in the constitution-making process" and Mangoma "was aware of the position of the party" regarding the matter.

"A signature (Mangoma’s) is not the position of the party. Mangoma knows the position of the party.

"We cannot do a referendum on the Kariba Draft. We want nothing to be taken to the people. The Kariba Draft is just part of our archives and history," Chamisa said.

Asked if Mangoma had signed the statement without the party’s blessing, Chamisa said the deputy treasurer was best placed to respond to the question.

In the statement, the negotiators placed it on record that the parties had agreed that the Kariba Draft guides the Parliamentary Select Committee in its consultations on the contents of a new constitution.

The parties said they did not seek to foist the Kariba Draft on the people, but "merely to provide a structured way of consulting them".

The negotiators appealed to all parties to honour the agreement in both word and deed so as to preserve the GPA’s integrity.

Patrick Chinamasa, Nicholas Goche (both Zanu-PF), Professor Welshman Ncube, Mrs Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga (both MDC-M) were the other negotiators to append their signatures to the statement.

Labels: KARIBA DRAFT CONSTITUTION, MDC, TENDAI BITI

posted by MrK @ 6:04 AM