Maravi

Levy has been insincere about the Constituent Assembly

Levy has been insincere about the Constituent Assembly
By Editor
Friday May 25, 2007 [04:00]

Today, as we always do on this day - May 25, we commemorate the long struggle to free Africa from colonial domination, subjugation, exploitation and abuse; the long struggle for the uplift of our people. But our people's freedom struggle will be nothing unless it means the triumph of real democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long term, of an economic system under which each individual shall be guaranteed the opportunity to show the best that there is in him or her.

It should never be forgotten that central to good governance in this country is a good constitution; one that is really owned by the people and contains all the rights of the people. We say this because the Constitution is at the heart of the nation-building process. People shall be truly free when their constitution is people-driven.

And the constitution should reflect the wishes and aspirations of the people and not those of the government, individual leaders or governors. The constitution must be a medium that regulates our behaviour in necessary matters concerning the common good. But unless the process for making or reviewing the constitution is correct, a constitution that is truly owned by the people will continue to be elusive.

The progress of the constitution review process makes one profoundly conscious of the shortcomings of the present government and its leader, Levy Mwanawasa.

From this week's pronouncements, it's very clear that Levy has not been honest over the constitution review process. Early this week, Levy told the nation that he would vote against the Constituent Assembly. This is in contradiction with the position he had taken when the debate of a Constituent Assembly started. At that time, Levy's position was that he was not opposed to the idea of a Constituent Assembly - he supported it. But he was only opposed to the method being advocated for arriving at a Constituent Assembly.

But for all practical purposes, Levy clearly showed that he was opposed not only to the method of arriving at a Constituent Assembly but also to the idea of the Constituent Assembly itself. However, this week he made it very clear that he was not for the idea of a Constituent Assembly and would vote against it. The secret is finally out.

Levy has made it very clear that he does not believe in the idea of a Constituent Assembly. It would be funny if it were not so tragic. We do not have a new constitution because Levy does not believe in the process we have chosen to use in giving ourselves a new constitution. Levy believes that the Zambian people elected him so that his personal will should hold captive that of the 11 million Zambians.

When will Levy learn that the people are the masters and if he does not agree with what they want, he should resign and not find strange legal arguments trying to justify why things can't be done. What the Zambian people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the political leaders are servants, and not masters, of the electorate.

By the way, where is Levy going to vote against the Constituent Assembly? We thought Levy said he would implement the will of the people; so where will this vote be?

But we know that he has in fact voted and that is why today we do not have a new or reviewed constitution. This confirms the reluctance of some of our people at the beginning to go through the means of the inquiries Act as a process of reviewing the Constitution where the President, who is an individual, has the final say - that cannot be democracy. This is a strange democracy where the wishes of one person override those of millions of his fellow citizens.

One can ask, why have we spent the billions of kwacha and man-hours of the constitution review process if, as has happened, at the end of it the results coincided with Levy's view?

Levy single-handedly handpicked the members of the Constitution Review Commission but today he seems to have difficulties accepting the findings of his own commission. Can such a person really be expected to accept the recommendations of an independent body? It is clear why Levy stands opposed to the idea of a Constituent Assembly in favour of an ill-defined indaba - whatever that indaba means. The simple reason for this is that it is only his approach, only his view that should carry the day.

This is the man who said at the beginning we should trust him. Now it is clear to all why we were sceptical in the beginning. The man cannot be trusted on this matter. Moreover, no matter how honest and decent we are, if we do not have the right kind of constitution, we cannot go forward as a nation. That is the imperative; but it must be an addition to, and not a substitution for, the qualities that make up good citizens and leaders.
Governance cannot be and should not be dependent on benevolence of a leader but rather on a good constitution which should constrain all leaders.

And this is more so in a country whose prime problem is to get the right type of good citizenship, and to get it, we must have progress, and our public men must be genuinely progressive. This is what Levy has to understand; and this is what we all must understand. If we look at things this way, we will have no difficulty trying to understanding why this constitution review process cannot be left to the whims of Levy.

The people who are the rightful owners of the constitution must take charge of the process. And what is disturbing about this whole thing is that Levy has been telling lies to the nation; trying to buy time with lies relying on pious legal arguments that don't make sense. And where these don't hold much water, he has not hesitated to invoke budgetary constraints.

It's time Zambians woke up to the fact that the issue of the constitution left to Levy, he will only do that which he himself wants to do and will give Zambians a constitution tailored by and to him; before Zambians wake up their hopes for a new uhuru will be again dashed, spanning one tyranny after another. The Zambian people should not continue to allow themselves to be abused in this manner. This is the same thing Chiluba did to them in 1996 and he got away with it. We can't continue to be fooled, to be conned and cheated by politicians over the same thing time and again. There is need to put an end to this.

Levy says he has no interest to serve by tailoring a constitution that suits him because his term of office is over. Yes, there may be some truth in this - but just some little truth. At least, in some way, he is admitting that he delayed the whole process because it suited him, he had an interest in not having a new constitution before the last elections. But things don't end here. Levy still has an interest in the constitution, which goes beyond his term of office. He will still be parasitic on the state even after he leaves office. So he can't say he has no interest in the constitution.

And if he didn't have an interest in the constitution review process, then he would be a very irresponsible citizen because everyone of us, regardless of our positions, should have an interest in the constitution because herein lies the future of our country. For Levy it seems the future of Zambia owes him nothing, it is only the present that he has an interest in. Since he will not be president in the future, then tomorrow's Zambia is of no interest to him.

What type of president is this? What type of leader is this? Where is he leading the nation to? This is worrying because the future of any nation is built on the threshold of today's decisions. It is the current leadership that is building the future, the Zambia of tomorrow. The Zambia of the future, the Zambia of tomorrow will not be built in the future or tomorrow, it is being built now. And this is what Levy has no interest in!

However, it is clear that from his utterances and actions he has an interest, only that it is not the interest of Zambia. It is the interest of Levy and that is why he is opposed to a Constituent Assembly. It is that having failed to impose his will on a handpicked Constitution Review Commission, an independent Constituent Assembly gives him nightmares. But this is what we must have and we shall have with or without Levy.

Labels: EDITORIAL, MWANAWASA

posted by MrK @ 5:19 AM