Maravi

Let's take up the responsibility

Let's take up the responsibility
By Editor
Wednesday June 13, 2007 [04:00]

Without any reservations, we are convinced that Levy Mwanawasa and his government have got it wrong over the constitution-making process, especially on the subject of the constituent assembly as the mode for adopting the new constitution.And if Levy wants to maintain the track that he seems to have chosen over the constitution-making process, then he should get ready for the political consequences of his actions.

Levy should further be advised that the time for political jokes is long gone and Zambians are now convinced beyond any grain of doubt of the awful importance of the question of the enactment of a new constitution. There is nobody, not least Levy, who should be allowed to frustrate with impunity the wishes of the Zambian people over the constitution-making process.

Although Levy wants to deliberately mislead and deceive himself that those calling for a constituent assembly as the mode of adopting the new constitution are just a tiny minority of the people of Zambia, we are comforted that the truth is expected to come out from the referendum which he has imposed on the nation over this matter. And since we are a democracy, although we are fully aware that the referendum which Levy has called for was not necessary in the first place as it is also a waste of public resources, we also hope that Levy is preparing himself for the consequences of the outcome of the same.

For if Levy truly wants to know the truth about the wishes of the people over the constitution-making process in general and the constituent assembly in particular, perhaps his doubts may only be put to rest by the humiliating defeat which he should be expecting from the Zambian people. We say this without malice, except to point out that it is not necessary for Levy and his government to continue indulging in the illusions of hope and luck over a matter which is very clear and in which the people's wishes have been widely and unequivocally expressed.

Going by his actions and utterances recently, it is very clear that Levy is trying his luck too far and he is truly exceeding his obsession and romance with last year's presidential election results. The fact that Levy got more votes in last year's elections when compared to the 2001 elections does not in any way justify the kind of tyranny that he wants to introduce in the governance of this country.

To claim opposition to the constituent assembly on the basis that the majority of constitution petitioners did not support it is to fatally confuse significant and fundamental issues with basic and simple statistics or figures which do not really provide a true guidance of what really ought to done. And we expect that Levy should be in a position to clearly distinguish between fundamental political issues and simple additions, subtractions, divisions, multiplications or extrapolations of figures.

As we noted last week, it is clear that Levy has now unleashed a process that may in fact end up destroying the authority of his government and ultimately diminish the standing of the ruling MMD. And it is for that reason that we are wondering if Levy is aware of the terrible consequences that may arise from his defeat by the Zambian people over the referendum on the constituent assembly.

We are saying this because Levy will certainly not defeat the Zambian people on this one. And since Zambians are aware that he is not with them on the issue of the constituent assembly as the mode for adoption of the new constitution, he should also be aware that the people of Zambia are mobilising themselves through various institutions and organisations to ensure that his tyrannical tendencies are fought and consigned to the political trash can where they rightly belong.

And again, even though it was not necessary for Levy to have called for a referendum to decide on the constituent assembly, we urge the people of Zambia to reject Levy and his government's conspiracy over the constitution-making process. It is quite clear now that Levy and his government - going by the pronouncements from his ministers - have conspired to deny the people of Zambia a new constitution which they have waited for many years now. All efforts and strategies are required from each and everyone of us to fight, resist and rest Levy and his government's conspiracy on the constitution-making process. We should not allow anyone to abuse the people's will and wishes over the constitution making process.

In fact, we are quite surprised that any sensible person would be opposed to adoption of the new constitution through a constituent assembly when this system has been used in many other societies as a way of coming up with a constitution which is generally accepted by and acceptable to the majority of the people.

There is a whole list of countries which have successful experiences with the constituent assembly as the mode of adopting their constitutions. For instance, the Norwegian Constituent Assembly adopted Norway's current constitution in 1814. The Constituent Assembly of Lithuania which was elected in 1920 worked for two years and enacted the 1922 constitution. The Third Dail, which is also known as the Irish Constituent Assembly was elected in 1922 and in that same year enacted the Constitution of the Irish Free State. The Constituent Assembly of Venezuela adopted the country's current constitution in 1999.

The list of countries that have gone through the constituent assembly when adopting constitutions is long and it is not necessary to fatigue anyone with all the intricate details. However, the point to be stressed is that the constituent assembly, if elected and set up in a transparent and representative manner, should be the most acceptable mode of adopting a constitution which should be generally accepted by and acceptable to the majority of the people. And that is exactly what the people of Zambia have been asking for. The aspiration of the people of Zambia now is to adopt the new constitution through a system that is more transparent and more representative. And it has been stated that there is no better system to do that than through a constituent assembly.

But since Levy and his government have refused to take up the responsibility of ensuring that the new constitution is adopted through a transparent and representative system, all Zambians are called upon to take up that responsibility. As the process for a referendum on the constituent assembly rolls out, let us always remember that Levy and his government have rendered themselves irrelevant in our quest for a genuinely people-driven constitution. It is now up to us the people to take control of the process which will ultimately deliver to us the kind of constitution which we have always yearned for.

Labels: CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY, EDITORIAL, OASIS FORUM

posted by MrK @ 5:53 AM