• The legislative agenda will be prioritized in order to reflect the letter and spirit of the GPA. • The IG will discuss and agree on further legislative measures which may be necessary to implement the agreed policies, and in particular, with a view to entrenching democratic values and practices. • Regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, political affiliation and religion, all Zimbabweans have the right to benefit from and participate in all national programmes and events without let or hindrance. COMPLIANCE Although GPA Article XVII exhorts the parties to prioritize the legislative agenda, the number of Bills passed in the last six months fell far short of the forecast referred to in STERP and the Prime Minister’s speeches. The Public Finance Management Bills, although passed in December 2009, still have the possibility, if properly applied, to ensure regular reporting to Parliament and thus better transparency. The Judicial Service Act (came into force on 18 June) was also welcomed as it removes the magistracy from executive control under the Public Service Act and could thus ensure greater independence for the bench. Early in the year there was also an amendment made to the Electoral Act, asserting rights of privacy in voting for the visually impaired. Finally, the introduction of a Private Member’s Bill to amend POSA was a long-awaited move. However, the Bill was only halfway through its second reading when Parliament was prorogued leaving this critical piece of legislation unreformed – it has however been restored to the Order Paper, although not in time to ease repression of public gatherings for the constitutional outreach. Additionally, positive motions included approval of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, approval of the BIPPA between South Africa and Zimbabwe, acknowledgement that the conferment of hero status should not be decided by one party alone, and calls for Codes of Conduct for the Executive, Judiciary and Legislature. It was unfortunate that the motions calling for the appointment of a select committee to investigate the 2008 election violence, and an audit of the voters’ role, were not concluded within the parliamentary session.43 It must also be positively noted that Parliament conducted widespread public hearings on the POSA Amendment Bill, as well as on the state of the public media, the Indigenisation Regulations and several others. Parliamentary Portfolio Committees also accomplished good work, attempting to exert their oversight role by going to investigate areas of concern. These attempts were met with hostility by some Ministries, for example the Ministry of Mines, which refused to cooperate and obstructed the work of the Committees (see further in NonCompliance below). Hearings were also open to the public, an opportunity that was not missed by a range of civics, journalists and interested citizens. Lastly, new arrangements were made in order to accept e-mail submissions for consideration by the Parliamentary committees by concerned members of the Diaspora. The Commissions that were established by Constitutional Amendment 19 in February 2009 certainly took an inordinate amount of time to set up. Nevertheless, in the case of 3 out of 4 (with only the  Veritas,  Bill  Watch  30/2010,  31  July  2010 43 CIVIL SOCIETY MONITORING MECHANISM (CISOMM) SIX MONTH SHADOW REPORT ON THE PERFORMANCE OF THE INCLUSIVE OF ZIMBABWE 43