By Prof. Jonathan Moyo

IS IT proper or acceptable for the current hung parliament to be the key institution to spearhead the making of a new democratic constitution under which Zimbabwe will be governed well into the unknown future?

The answer is an emphatic no.

There are four reasons that should be carefully considered to understand why the decision to use Parliament as the vehicle for making a new constitution for the country is fatally flawed and they are the following:

• Because it is necessarily a product of the temporary electoral choices that depend on the political winds, interests and prejudices of the moment, parliament is by definition not inclusive enough to represent, articulate or defend the broad and permanent interests of society that must define the pillars of any democratic and enduring constitution.



• The coalition government formed on February 13 is not yet in a position to play a cohesive national role in the making of a new constitution for the country, not only because it still has to resolve outstanding issues around its formation, which could lead to its premature collapse if not carefully handled, but also because Zanu PF and the two MDC formations are yet to find a common public interest agenda to define the coalition government beyond partisan interests.

By Prof. Jonathan Moyo

WHAT is the cost of the coalition government's retreat or even treat that started Friday and runs for the entire weekend in Victoria Falls and who is footing the bill?.

This question has become both urgent and important against the background of growing public interest in a number of high profile and high budget so-called summits that some government ministers have been hosting
under murky circumstances at five star hotels across the country.

Over the last month there have been well-funded and highly publicised summits on water, women and youth, tourism along with ministerial dinners in such sectors as science and technology among others.