Constitution outreach to be monitored by civil society
The Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) Outreach Programme is finally set to begin next week. In light of this, the ZESN/ZPP/ZLHR Independent Constitution Monitoring Project (ZZZICOMP) will be monitoring this process. Here is an excerpt of its press statement this week:
ZZZICOMP welcomes the long awaited launch of the Constitution Parliamentary Committee (COPAC) Outreach Programme on Wednesday 16 June 2010 by the three principals to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara.
Of particular importance was the call by the Principals for peace and non-violence during the public outreach process in keeping with the provisions of Article 6 of the GPA, “it is a fundamental right and duty of the Zimbabwean people to make a constitution by themselves and for themselves” and “that the process of making this constitution must be owned and driven by the people and must be inclusive and democratic”. We acknowledge the commitments made by the Principals that the process must be undertaken in conditions that uphold the principles of inclusivity, tolerance, transparency and openness.
ZZZICOMP had noted with concern that prior to the official launch of the outreach; the process has been characterized by inordinate delays in the commencement of the outreach programme as stipulated in Article 6 of the GPA. The operating environment remains largely repressive thus impacting negatively on the participation by the public in the reform process.
Furthermore, as the outreach was being launched, the public was and still is clueless as to the dates on which the various teams will visit their respective wards as well as sequencing of the meetings. We believe this information is essential for the public to plan for their participation in the process.
In line with fulfilling its monitoring role ZZZICOMP will independently assess and evaluate the constitution-making process against established principles, benchmarks and standards of constitutionalism and constitution-making, including openness and transparency, inclusivity, legitimacy, accessibility and receptiveness.
Our goal is to objectively monitor, observe and report on the work of the Constitution Parliamentary Select Committee (COPAC), the public outreach programme, the work of the Thematic Committees and the Drafting Committee, and the final document produced in order to adjudge how democratic and transparent the constitution-making process is, and if it accurately reflects the input of broad and diverse popular participation. To this end, ZZZICOMP has deployed 420 monitors, as well as provincial coordinators and other key personnel on the ground across the country, who have all along been observing the operating environment in general, and are now well prepared and ready to monitor the process. Our monitoring teams are dispersed nationwide in order to systematically gather information during the consultative processes, to comment on the operating environment and any breaches of the IPA in relation to the process, and to highlight any violations, violence, or other discrepancies which occur in the constituencies and wards in which they are operating.
For further information and comments please contact ZZZICOMP on zzzicomp [at] gmail [dot] com