Zimbabwe's executive sideline parliament in constitutional process.

Text of report by South Africa-based ZimOnline website on 24 September

President Robert Mugabe and his two coalition partners have effectively taken control of Zimbabwe's troubled constitutional reforms after modifying the constitution making process and packing the executive of a committee managing the reforms with trusted loyalists.

Parliament is supposed to oversee the drafting of the new governance charter through a 25-member select committee established for the purpose.

But pro-democracy activists, legal experts and senior parliamentary officials said the changes announced by the Executive - particularly re-configuration of the management committee of the parliamentary select committee established to oversee the constitutional reforms - virtually demoted …