Maravi

Oasis opposes CC bill

Oasis opposes CC bill
By Noel Sichalwe
Wednesday July 25, 2007 [04:00]

THE Oasis Forum has opposed the constitution conference (CC) bill, saying it envisages the piecemeal amendment of the Constitution. In a letter to justice minister George Kunda yesterday, Oasis Forum spokesperson Musa Mwenye said partial amendments could have been done before the 2006 tripartite elections through the Electoral Reform Technical Committee Report, which was unfortunately not implemented. "Unfortunately, the Bill has not taken into consideration the three step process recommended by the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission vis-à-vis adoption, approval by the people through a referendum and enactment by Parliament without further debate," he said.

"The three-step process recommended by the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission, which we fully subscribe to, requires the constitution to be adopted by the constituent assembly to be subjected to a referendum before it goes to Parliament. It is important that the constitution be approved by the people in the referendum before enactment in Parliament because it is the referendum that operates as an instrument to compel members of parliament to enact the constitution without further debate."

Mwenye stated that both the letter and spirit of Zambia's current constitution showed that the supreme power of the Republic was with the people who exercised it through the democratic systems.

Mwenye said the composition of the constitutional conference had departed in material respects from what was recommended by the Mung'omba CRC.

"In many aspects, the government or pro-government representation has been enhanced for example the representation of defence and security services has increased by 150 per cent while the representation from political parties has also increased by 600 per cent from one representation from each political party with the representation in Parliament to six representatives of each political party which is a member of Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID)," Mwenye said.

"We are also of the view that it is highly undesirable to tie representation of political parties in the constitutional conference to membership in the ZCID as this may disentitle otherwise eligible political parties which may not want to be or continue to be members of ZCID. We therefore, urge you Honourable Minister to revert to the recommendations of the Mung'omba Constitutional Review Commission on the composition of the constitutional conference. This will dispel any mistrust of a possible inbuilt majority by government as the Mung'omba recommendations are backed by the people's submissions and also the input of both local and foreign expert opinion."

Mwenye said the bill further sought to grant enormous powers to the Republican President and the minister, therefore, reminiscent of the Inquiries Act in many ways. He said one of the reasons advanced in opposition to the use of the Inquiries Act in the constitutional review was the power of the President to appoint members of the CRC.
Mwenye said the Forum noted that the same powers have been extended to the President with respect to appointments of all members of the constitutional conference including its chairperson, the secretary and deputy secretaries.

He said in other jurisdiction, members of the constitutional conference were appointed by Parliament through a Parliamentary Select Committee while the chairperson would have to be selected by the conference itself, as is the case even with the recommendations in the Mung'omba CRC.

"What is even more worrying than the selection of members and the chairperson is the fact that the Bill grants the President power to remove members on such grounds as members taking 'any political, administrative or other action that adversely affects the deliberations or the operation or success of the adoption process (Section 6(5)c)," he said.

"The ambiguity in the provision grants the President wide discretion to decide what would amount to political, administrative or other action that adversely affects the adoption process. It is also a matter of grave concern that the Bill grants the President the power to dissolve the constitutional conference."

Mwenye said it was an open secret that President Mwanawasa was not impartial in the process of constitution- making because he had made his views known very strongly on several instances.

He said it was therefore, undesirable that the President should be granted the power to remove a member and dissolve the constitution conference. He said the conference itself should regulate its own matters of discipline and sub committees for that purpose would have to be formed.

"Finally, we would like to note with gratitude that government has since realised that there are no legal and financial obstacles to the establishment of the constituent assembly by whatsoever name called. It is therefore, clear that the acrimony associated with that insistence on these legal and financial hurdles was totally unnecessary and that as a nation, despite our special interests and political inclinations, we now have a real chance to deliver to ourselves a people-driven constitution," he stated.

"In this regard, we implore you, Honourable Minister, to be mindful of the recommendations of the Mung'omba Commission on the mode of adoption of the constitution which in our view is a reiteration of both the submissions to the Mvunga Commission and the recommendations of the Mwanakatwe Commission on the mode of adoption. We accordingly wish you and through you the President Godspeed in this very important process."

Labels: CONSTITUTIONAL CONFERENCE, OASIS FORUM

posted by MrK @ 6:08 AM