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Levy can't arrest 12 million Zambians over NCC -HH

Levy can't arrest 12 million Zambians over NCC -HH
By Lambwe Kachali and Nomusa Michelo
Saturday October 13, 2007 [04:00]

OPPOSITION United Party for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema has said President Mwanawasa cannot arrest the twelve million Zambians over the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) stand-off. And Hichilema said his party has written a letter to President Mwanawasa to convene a meeting with stakeholders so that the contentious issues that have besieged NCC are resolved.

In an interview after featuring on Let the People Talk programme on Radio Phoenix, Hichilema said there was no need for President Mwanawasa to issue threats at those who had divergent views against the NCC.

Hichilema said threats would only drag the constitutional review process further.

“We have no right to insult each other. We need to work together in order to achieve a common goal on the constitution rather than issuing threats and insults.

To be specific, when I listen to people insulting each other, I just say to myself that this is a lost arrangement. And on President Mwanawasa’s threats, it is impossible to arrest all the twelve million people among whom are opposing the NCC. The constitution adoption process requires inclusiveness, consensus, not threats.

Most Zambians are not against the name NCC but its composition and the unresolved issues in the Act,” Hichilema said.

He said UPND was not scared by the threats but would contribute to the adoption process in a sober and thoughtful mind.

“Currently, our basis of doing things is different from others. For example, our contribution to the adoption process will be based on a sober, reasonable and thoughtful mind. We will not rush because the constitutional document is long overdue.

As UPND, we want a constitution that will stand the test of time and is inclusive of all key stakeholders. By saying so, I mean a process in which the three church mother bodies and the civil society will participate,” he said.

Hichilema said UPND would not support a constitution that would betray the people of Zambia.
“We had the same process in 1996 in which government did cherry picking. The most important components that were not in favour of government and its sitting president were left (out). We are vindicated now because we were not part of that process. So, this time Zambians will not allow piece-meal amendments,” Hichilema said.

And responding to a question from a caller who wanted to know if people would be able to participate freely following President Mwanawasa’s threats, Hichilema said there was no need to threaten anybody.

“In the first place, I want to say that there is no need to threaten anybody, absolutely no need to threaten anybody. A different opinion does not justify a threat of treason, no, it just justifies sitting down and try and resolve the outstanding,” Hichilema said. “If I was in a situation of being in that office, I wouldn’t threaten anybody with treason. But we are different. All I can say is that there is no need to threaten anybody with treason.”

Hichilema said he did not believe that anybody would be jailed for having a different opinion on the NCC.

“I don’t think you will see anybody who will be taken to court or to prison. Even those who are offering to be put in jail, they know that they will never be put in jail because this is really an unnecessary threat to be honest,” Hichilema said.

“But I say this with a lot of respect. We can say what we want to say without being abusive or being disrespectful. But absolutely there is no need.”

And Hichilema confirmed that he had written to President Mwanawasa to consider and take on board the concerns that the Zambian people had raised over the NCC Act.

He said Zambians had invested a lot in the constitution and it would unreasonable for the government to amend the constitution without taking into consideration people’s observations.

And asked if UPND would still participate in the NCC in an event that President Mwanawasa did not respond or responds negatively to the request, Hichilema said the decision would be reached after President Mwanawasa replied to his letter.

And commenting on defections by members of parliament between political parties, Hichilema said for as long as poverty persisted, people would continue to join politics for their personal reasons.

Labels: HAKAINDE HICHILEMA, MWANAWASA, NCC

posted by MrK @ 4:08 AM