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Battlelines drawn over Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference

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Civil society organisations (CSOs) are reportedly spoiling for a fight with the three political parties in the inclusive government following reports that the former would only attend the Second All-Stakeholders Conference as the parties’ delegates.

Civil society organisations (CSOs) are reportedly spoiling for a fight with the three political parties in the inclusive government following reports that the former would only attend the Second All-Stakeholders Conference as the parties’ delegates.

Report by Khanyile Mlotshwa The parties last week resolved that there would be 2 000 delegates at the Second All-Stakeholders’ Conference and that 600 would be drawn from the three parties, 200 would be MPs while CSOs would participate as delegates seconded by political parties.

  But MDC-T spokesperson Douglas Mwonzora said 571 delegates would represent CSOs.

  “We did not exclude the CSOs. We are going to ask them to bring their delegates. The only thing is we will allocate figures to them so that the conference can be manageable,” Mwonzora said.

  MDC national spokesman Nhlanhla Dube also defended the parties’ position, saying it was the most effective way of creating space for the CSOs. “The process of arriving at a new constitution was pre-determined from the start,” he said.

  Crisis of Zimbabwe Coalition (CZC) described the reports as disturbing.

  “The Copac process has, by and large, been a political parties’ affair, with limited pockets of opportunity to participate by other members of society not from political parties.  If the indications are true, they are not only disturbing, but also a complete negation of the limited pockets of opportunity to participate that had been there for non-political society,” CZC said.

  “This arrangement is also a deviation from the Copac commitment that at the first and second all-stakeholders’ conferences 70% of the delegates would be from civic society and 30% from political parties. The deviation from that agreement by political parties reflects a glaring and deliberate attempt by the three main political parties in the Global Political Agreement to continually exclude civic society in this important process.”

  Matabeleland Civil Society Forum spokesperson Dumisani Nkomo said: “It’s unfortunate that it has gone in that direction . . . This compromises the objectivity of the CSOs.”