An All-Stakeholders Conference to discuss the constitutional –making process was last Monday disrupted after a group of Zanu-PF extremists stormed the Harare International Conference Centre, the conference venue, demanding the removal of Western-imposed sanctions before their party could seriously partake in the process.

Riot police had to intervene to quell the flaring tempers as delegates from the rival MDC and Zanu-PF parties went berserk, insulting and throwing missiles at one another.

President Robert Mugabe, leader of Zanu-PF and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leaders, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy, Arthur Mutambara unanimously condemned the disturbances and declared that the process should go ahead as intended. They appealed to their supporters on Tuesday to bury their differences in order to make the exercise to draft a people-driven constitution a success.

“We feel disturbed and we have a sense of abhorrence at what has happened this morning," Mugabe said, at a joint press briefing with Tsvangirai and Mutambara.
Tsvangirai also agreed with the veteran leader in calling for sanity for the smooth progress of the reform process, adding that the proposed new constitution was of great importance to the future of Zimbabwe.

Tighter security measures were put in place when the session resumed on Tuesday, with police officers heavy police presence to monitor the proceedings inside the conference hall .The process now enters the to the four month long public consultation stage with the hope that the reforms will usher in Zimbabwe’s new democracy through free and fair elections. The current process is scheduled to be finished by November 13, 2009.

Analysts say that those attempting to block the process fear that the unfolding dynamic could bring about democracy in the country, threatening the security of Zanu PF aligned hardliners and securocrats who face future prosecution for gross human rights violations as well as massive state corruption scandals, and whose lasting existence in the position of power depended on a Robert Mugabe-led system of patronage.

State security agents and some Zanu PF officials have been pinpointed in harassment and death of dissenting voices. They are said to be doing everything in their power to reverse reforms.Ttwo journalists from a Zimbabwe private newspaper were arrested for publishing a story containing the names of police officers and state agents implicated in the abductions of civic group leader Jestina Mukoko..