Harare - The process of drafting a new Zimbabwean constitution has been further delayed, meaning the country's new charter is now running seven months behind schedule. A co-leader of parliament's constitutional committee Munyaradzi- Paul Mangwana told journalists in Harare late Tuesday that Zimbabwe would not have a new constitution before February 2011 at the earliest.

 

Under the original agreement in September 2008, which formed the basis for the formation of a coalition government led by President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in 2009, the country was supposed to have a new constitution by July 2010.

 

"Funding problem has been our main obstacle," Mangwana said.

 

The process of canvassing citizens about what they would like to see in the constitution, which should have been concluded in November last year, would now only begin in April, Mangwana said.

 

A referendum on the new document is expected in a year's time, he said.

 

The co-chairs of the constitutional parliamentary committee are drawn from each of the feuding parties.

 

Douglas Mwonzora, the MDC co-chairman, Tuesday accused some politicians of trying to thwart the process because they were afraid of losing elections.

 

"Those who are afraid of losing certain positions are endangering the constitution-making process," he said.

 

"The constitution is not about the next elections. It is for posterity," he said.

 

The coalition government is expected to hold elections after enacting a new constitution although the administration can wait until its mandate expires in 2013 to call elections