Maravi

Let's build more Consensus

Let's build more Consensus
By Editor
Sunday September 23, 2007 [04:00]

The refusal by opposition Patriotic Front to nominate people to be appointed as members of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) raises a lot of concern about the future of our whole constitution review process. And the Patriotic Front is not the only organisation to turn down a request to participate in the NCC. They join the Non-Governmental Organisation Coordinating Council and other Oasis Forum members who have indicated that they are not pleased with the whole NCC arrangement and will accordingly not participate in it.

As we have indicated before, this is not a contest for who should dominate the constitution review process. This is an exercise that requires the full participation of all key stakeholders in the manner that is acceptable to all.

The initiative taken by the ruling MMD to come up with some pseudo consensus of political parties under Zambia Centre for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) will not do because the constitution is a matter not only of politicians but of all other people in their diversities and complexities.

Doing a deal with a few political parties that represent nobody other than the people who registered them is a waste of time, an exercise in futility and self-deception.

It was very easy for the MMD to push through its agenda by manipulating the hungry, desperate and fragile politicians under ZCID who literally represented nobody.

They got the allowances generously provided by the donors who usually don’t hesitate to make bad use of their deep pockets. But the whole constitution review process does not begin and end with political parties, some of them being one-man parties.

It is increasingly becoming clear now that the NCC will not be a legitimate arrangement because it only represents the MMD and those it has managed to hoodwink or manipulate. And in a country where opportunism reigns, it will never be difficult to find people who can easily be manipulated.

But the MMD government should realise that the constitution review process is not a matter that should be dominated by those in power; it is not a matter for sweepstake winner. It is not a matter where the strong - no matter how few they may be - reign. It is a matter that should be resolved through the participation of all stakeholders on the basis of consensus. It should be a result of a negotiated settlement based on a strong principle of give and take and compromise in general.

Constitution review process is a matter that requires a lot of skill in managing conflicts that may result from the different positions that stakeholders may take on various issues.

And a central paradox in matters of this nature will always arise between conflict and consensus.

However, this conflict must be managed within certain limits and result in compromises, consensus or other agreements that all sides accept as legitimate. If those in government exert excessive pressure to achieve the ZCID type of consensus, without listening to the voices of other key stakeholders, the nation can be crushed from above.

Similarly, if groups perceive all this as nothing more than a forum in which they can press their demands, the nation can shatter from within.

Our constitution review process needs the commitment of citizens who accept the inevitability of differences of opinion as well as the necessity for consensus. It is important to realise that many differences over our constitution review process don’t need to be between clear-cut “right” and “wrong”, but between differing interpretations of democratic rights and social priorities.

There is need to reach consensus or accommodation over the constitution review process through debate and compromise. We should never forget that in matters of this nature coalition building is very important; it is the essence of democratic action. We should learn to negotiate with others, to compromise and to work within the constitutional system.

It will not be wise for the MMD government to proceed with the implementation of the requirements of the NCC Act when key stakeholders have refused to participate in it. What is required here is to reopen negotiations with those who are dissenting and negotiate and negotiate until consensus is reached.

If this is not done we will end up with a constitution that belongs to no one else other than the MMD - the constitution of the MMD becoming that of the whole nation. This will certainly not be proper.

We are at this position simply because the MMD government did not want to negotiate this process with anyone else; all they wanted were their views to stand predominant over those of other citizens and stakeholders.

Consequently, they resorted to manipulating those without spine in the opposition in the hope that if this succeeds, then they can ignore or marginalise the more articulate civil society organisations. From day one, the MMD government had never wanted to make concessions on anything.

They tried to negotiate with civil society organizations without giving any concessions - they forget that concessions are inherent in negotiations.

They forgot that in negotiated settlements one has to accept the integrity of another man even if that man is not yet in government at any level. When one negotiates, he or she must be prepared to compromise. A negotiated settlement over our constitution review process is not something farfetched.

Negotiated solutions can be found even to conflicts that have come to seem intractable and such solutions emerge when those who have been divided reach out to find the common ground. That is the nature of compromising: one can compromise on fundamental issues.

Insignificant things, peripheral issues, don’t need any compromise. If one is not prepared to compromise, then one must not enter into or think about the process of negotiation at all.

There is need for the MMD government to get back to the drawing board and restart negotiations with other stakeholders in an open-minded way, without thinking they have the monopoly of wisdom simply because they were elected or won some fraudulent votes in the last elections.

And when people think only of themselves and their own particular group, then there’s division and frustration.

It is clear to us that unless the process is one which is acceptable to all our people or one which is agreeable by all the key stakeholders, a constitution that is owned by the people and driven by them will continue to be elusive.

It is not a question of whether what the government is saying or wants to put in the Constitution is correct that really matters. What really matters is the consensus that surrounds the whole process.

We therefore urge the government to retreat in best order and reopen negotiations with other stakeholders until consensus is reached - no matter how long it takes.

And this should not be an issue of egos or pride. Let’s just do all that is needed to arrive at reasonable consensus over this process.

Labels: EDITORIAL, NCC, PF

posted by MrK @ 4:19 AM