Maravi

Consensus is necessary

Consensus is necessary
By Editor
Monday October 08, 2007 [04:00]

The decision by the Patriotic Front (PF) to decline participation in the National Constitution Conference (NCC) is highly exemplary and is a true mark of patriotism. For those still doubting that the NCC process in its current form is not a worthwhile cause, it is important to learn more from the patriotic decision which the PF has made. Obviously, and as PF president Michael Sata acknowledged on Saturday, the decision was not an easy one because it involved many competing interests. However, what is most important is the ultimate outcome of the consensus building process, which we hope took place internally within the PF.

And nobody should be fooled into thinking that the PF’s decision is inconsequential to the NCC process. As we have stated before, the success of the NCC process will largely be dependent upon the level or amount of consensus around it. In the absence of consensus among all stakeholders, the NCC will remain nothing but a futile process. Let’s not forget that the PF, going by its numbers in Parliament - not to mention that it controls three cities and major municipalities and district councils - is the largest opposition political party in the country and its role in our national affairs cannot be simply ignored.

The PF has a significant place in our politics today and only a fool can underrate its actions or decisions. Without the involvement of a major political party like PF in the NCC, the process will definitely lack the legitimacy it badly requires. We should also remember that there are already other major players like the Oasis Forum and its members - except for the Law Association of Zambia - who have turned their backs on the NCC for genuine and justifiable reasons. In our estimation, this is not a good sign for this process because it shows us that the legitimacy of everything around it is being questioned even before the process takes off in earnest.

On the other hand, we are fully aware that there are still some opportunists who have seen nothing wrong with the genuine concerns that have been raised by other well-meaning stakeholders and they have easily jumped onto the opportunity to satisfy their individual interests. There are individuals and groups of individuals who have simply closed their ears to the voices of reason over the need to build consensus and agree on fundamental issues before the NCC can take off. And most of them have not done so out of principle, but because they have to fulfil their narrow and parochial interests. But we are not surprised that some individuals and groups have basically sold out because it is well-known that even after the death of Jesus Christ some 2000 years ago, this world is still full of Judas Iscariots. Some people are willing to betray the battle for a people-driven constitution for the sake of a few pieces of silver, for the sake of getting some sitting allowance.

But there are many reasons the MMD government ought to get back to the drawing board and restart negotiations with other stakeholders who are not satisfied with some of the issues around the NCC. We have said many times that unless the constitution-making process is one which is acceptable to our people or one which is agreeable to all the key stakeholders, everything we do will be futile, a waste of national resources. And this is why we keep urging the government to embrace the principle of consensus building around the NCC.

We think that consensus building is important in today’s interconnected society because it is not disputable that many problems exist that affect diverse groups of people with different interests. And as problems mount, the organisations that deal with society’s problems should come to rely on each other for help — they are interdependent. In this world of complexities, it is extremely difficult and in fact ineffective for any one side to try to solve or resolve controversial problems on their own. Consensus building offers a way for us either as individuals or groups of individuals to collaborate on solving complex problems in ways that are acceptable and beneficial to all.
Consensus building is a necessity in the

NCC process because we believe that it is the only way that an opportunity will be given for people from diverse groups to make input into the process. We believe that it will be wrong to leave such an important process as the NCC to government representatives or those aligned to the ruling party.

We want to encourage the MMD government to look at the merits of ensuring that consensus is reached in this process because we believe that it is only through consensus building that a common understanding and solution acceptable to all can be reached. Indeed there are numerous benefits which can result from properly employing consensus-building processes to address important national challenges such as constitution making.

We do not need to over-emphasise the fact that one of the most important benefits of consensus is that it increases the quality of decisions and solutions because consensus building exposes decision making to a comprehensive analysis of the problem at hand, in this case the constitution-making process. And we believe it is only through consensus building that competing parties can be guaranteed protection of their varying interests. Generally, we think that consensus building is the most efficient and effective way of dealing with major challenges like the constitution-making process. It saves a lot of time and a lot of resources too.

We know that time is very much of the essence in the constitution-making process. However, we want to insist that nothing significant will be achieved if we just rush through the NCC process for the sake of meeting certain set targets, without necessarily looking at the genuine concerns which have been raised by other equally important stakeholders in the governance and political system of the country. In fact, it will be suicidal for the MMD government to just ignore stakeholders such as the Oasis Forum and the Patriotic Front in the NCC process because these are significant players in the country’s processes.

We can only hope that the MMD will find it necessary - without considering it a sign of weakness - to pay attention to the areas of concern that have been raised by several individuals and groups on the NCC process. It is important that consensus is built on this important matter and we would like to urge the MMD government to seriously reflect on it so that the process does not leave anyone behind, so that the majority of the people of Zambia are satisfied with the final outcome.

Labels: EDITORIAL, NCC, PF

posted by MrK @ 3:30 AM