Maravi

constitutional conference to adopt new Constitution

constitutional conference to adopt new Constitution
By Noel Sichalwe and Amos Malupenga
Monday June 25, 2007 [04:00]

JUSTICE minister George Kunda yesterday assured the nation that the Constitutional Conference (CC) will adopt the new constitution. And the Oasis Forum and the Collaborative Group on the Constitution (CGC) said the proposed CC would only be acceptable if its mandate would include adopting the new constitution.

Meanwhile Patriotic Front president Michael Sata has proposed a meeting between political party leaders and the Oasis Forum to harmonise their positions on the constitution-review process.
In an interview, Kunda said political party leaders discussed the constitution making process and debated various issues at the summit of presidents on Saturday at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.

He said during the course of debate, President Mwanawasa proposed that there was need for a legal mechanism to discuss, consider and analyse the draft constitution. Kunda said in the report prepared by the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID), there was a proposal for a Constitutional Conference but that it should not be legislated.

He said President Mwanawasa then suggested that the proposal for the Constitutional Conference should be legislated to give it the legal effect or authority to draw funding from the national budget. Kunda further said President Mwanawasa's proposal was seconded by United Liberal Party president Sakwiba Sikota and all other party presidents "were agreeable to the proposal and congratulated President Mwanawasa for being magnanimous".

"This proposal by President Mwanawasa is not a departure from the submissions to the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission report because in the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission report, many Zambians submitted that they would prefer a constitution to be adopted by either the CC, constituent assembly or any other widely constituted body," Kunda said. "As government position, the purpose of the CC is to adopt a new constitution."

Kunda said the same method was also used in Kenya.

He also said from the understanding of government, the constitutional conference would be a gathering of Zambians to examine the contents of the draft constitution in trying to reach consensus. He said this gathering could be called by any other names whether insaka, indaba, constitutional conference or constituent assembly as long as it was a broad representation of Zambians to discuss and adopt the draft constitution.

"Once consensus is reached from the gathering, we would expect Parliament to enact a new constitution which would have been agreed upon by the constitutional conference," Kunda said. "The constitutional bill that government is going to present to Parliament is going to regulate the composition of the CC, put in place procedures to be followed in the CC and the issues of allowances, setting up a secretariat and how the CC will arrive at its decision."

Kunda said since Part III of the Constitution required a referendum for it to be changed, the process of census would proceed because at the end of the exercise there would be need for a referendum before Part III could be changed.

"At this point, the question of the referendum will arise but as regards other parts of the Constitution, changes would be made according to people's wishes without having to conduct a referendum," Kunda said.

"As for us in government, the debate about the process of adopting a new constitution is now behind us. Therefore, let's now look to the future and make a constitution that will stand a test of time."

And in a joint statement issued after a meeting yesterday, the Oasis Forum and CGC urged government to clearly state whether or not the constitutional conference would adopt the new constitution.

The Oasis noted with interest that opposition political party leaders had agreed in principle on holding of a constituent assembly albeit under the name and style of the constitutional conference and that President Mwanawasa had conceded to that position.

"We also note that the government has not come up with a firm position on the matter and we call upon the government to categorically inform the people of Zambia that the proposed constitutional conference will adopt the constitution of the Republic of Zambia as recommended by the Mung'omba Constitutional Review Commission," the statement read.

According to the statement, the CGC was of the view that the process to repeal the current constitution and enactment of the new constitution had been conclusively determined in the recommendations of the Mung'omba Constitutional Review Commission and that the constitutional conference would only be acceptable if its mandate would be to adopt the Constitution.

The CGC reiterated that all issues of content should only be discussed in a constituent assembly by whatsoever name it would be called.
They also congratulated the Zambian people for compelling the government to rescind its decision to call for a referendum.

"We encourage all Zambians to be more vigilant now than ever and insist that the provisions of the constitutional conference Act be agreed by all parties and that the constitutional conference culminates in a comprehensive review of the constitution as recommended by the Mung'omba CRC," the statement read. "The Oasis Forum/CGC will continue with all its programmes and activities and would encourage all Zambians to continue to defend the will of the people as expressed through the Mung'omba report and draft constitution."

Among the organisations that signed the statement were the Zambia Episcopal Conference, Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia, Council of Churches in Zambia, Non-Governmental Organisations Coordinating Council and Law Association of Zambia.

Others were Foundation for Democratic Process, Southern African Centre for Constructive Resolution of Disputes, Transparency International Zambia and Press Freedom Committee of The Post.
Meanwhile, in an interview after political parties agreed to pass a constitutional assembly bill that would facilitate the enactment of a new constitution on Saturday, Sata said it was good that the MMD had agreed with the mode of adopting a new constitution as preferred by many Zambians.

Sata said from the PF's point of view, they were grateful because the MMD had accepted the position which they wanted and that what remained was a legal framework to deal with the matter.
"It doesn't matter whether the name is constituent assembly or constitutional conference, it means the same," he said. "So the Oasis Forum and civil organisations, we have to meet and agree on what we should include in the terms of reference of what is going on. We will do it faster, we will go and see Levy again so that if possible we can bring it in the next Parliament sitting or a special parliamentary session be called to deal with this issue because it is a simple law. With this one, the referendum you can ignore it, it's a dead issue. We have achieved what we came here for."

Forum for Development and Democracy vice-president Chifumu Banda expressed happiness that politicians had finally decided on the constitution-review process.
Banda was optimistic that the constitutional conference would be a proper way of enacting a new constitution.

He said since they did not discuss the census and referendum as suggested by government, he assumed that those processes would not take place.

ULP president Sikota said the summit was successful especially that politicians had managed to solve what was being seen by many people as a political constitutional impasse.

"I think the Zambian people should start to have their faith in the politicians that when politicians do get together, they are able to resolve issues," Sikota said. "I think that today's (Saturday) meeting shows that. I am proud to have been part of this in that most people did not think that there would be such progress."

UNIP president Tilyenji Kaunda said the constitutional conference was a good outcome. Tilyenji said he was happy that the Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) had prepared a proper document with regard to the constitution-review process.

"We must give due thanks to the work of the board," Tilyenji said. "They have risen well up to the occasion, they have come up with a good document. So I think I am quiet happy."

He was happy that the constitutional conference would serve the purpose of enacting a new constitution through a bill that would be passed in Parliament.

Tilyenji was also satisfied with the broad representation of political parties at the summit.

All People's Congress Party president Ken Ngondo said the meeting was good and that President Mwanawasa had been magnanimous enough in agreeing that a constitutional conference bill should be tabled in Parliament.
Ngondo said it was good that the constitutional conference would debate the draft constitution and later have a referendum to amend part III of the constitution.

He was happy that the constitutional conference had stopped the proposed referendum on the constituent assembly that was earlier suggested by government.

"The programme has been very straightforward, others want to call it other names but some of us feel we should stick to constituent assembly which the people know about," he said. "What is important is what will be put in the Act and from there that is where all the debate can be exhausted. After that, we can have a referendum for part III of the Constitution, which talks about the rights. It was very successful and God is with us."

National Democratic Focus president Ben Mwila said the summit was important because party leaders, especially government, had agreed on the roadmap of having a constitutional conference without a referendum.

He said the MMD government undertook to put a law in place, through Parliament, to facilitate the enactment of a new constitution.
"I think the same time frame proposed by ZCID had been accepted," he said. "We are quite happy with that and we hope that come July when Parliament resumes, the bill will be presented."

Political party presidents on Saturday resolved to come up with a constitutional conference instead of a constituent assembly. The presidents, during their summit organised by ZCID at Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka, all agreed that Parliament should pass legislation to give legal personality to the constitutional conference.

Reading the communiqué at the end of the summit last evening, ZCID board chairman Katele Kalumba said government would present a constitutional conference bill at the next sitting of National Assembly. Kalumba further said the summit deferred consideration of the proposed content of the constitution to a later date. Kalumba said Parliament would determine the composition, existence and functions of the constitutional conference.

Labels: GEORGE KUNDA, OASIS FORUM, SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:50 AM