adminto meet its deadline to complete the process in September this year.
Initially, Copac had indicated that a plebiscite for the new constitution would be held before the end of this year.
Copac co-chairman Cde Munyaradzi Paul Mangwana said the remaining stages did not make it possible to have a referendum this year.
He said drafting of the new constitution was the most crucial stage of the process and was likely to surpass the projected three weeks set by Copac.
“It is not possible to have the referendum this year. We may have it (referendum) early next year, probably in January or February,” he said. “The stage that we have reached now is the most difficult stage and it is
difficult to set fixed timeframes for it. Although we have projected to complete it in three to four weeks, there is likelihood that there will be a long debate among parties on what should be included in the constitution.”
Cde Mangwana said after completing the drafting stage, they would convene a second all stakeholders conference where the draft constitution would be subjected to debate by various stakeholders before it was presented to Parliament.
“We will have a second stakeholders’ conference soon after drafting and that stage requires a budget of US$2, 8 million.
“We are a committee of Parliament and after the second all stakeholders’ conference we will then present a report to Parliament on the work we have done before we go for a referendum,” he said.
Online Reporter