Anointing Rupiah

Anointing Rupiah
By Editor
Tuesday September 09, 2008 [04:00]

Politics is an area of great importance for promoting justice, peace, development and community among all. Those in control of the state may have the authority to make final decisions but the people themselves have the right and duty to share in that authority.

Good governance only occurs when we have honest and humble leaders who see politics as a vocation to serve the people. And what our people are seeking is genuine democracy in which the interests of the leaders, who are supposed to be servants of the people, are subordinated to the interest of the people, who are the masters of the leaders. For this reason, no one deserves to be elected unless they have demonstrated absolute respect for the interests of the people. And central to good governance is respect for the Constitution, for the rule of law and not of men.

We say this because the rock upon which a democratic government rests is its constitution – the formal statement of its fundamental obligations, limitations, procedures and institutions. The constitution of the country is the supreme law of the land, and all citizens are subject to its provisions. At a minimum, the constitution sets forth the government’s operating procedures.

It doesn’t matter whether one is very popular or unpopular, the constitution must be followed. Our Constitution does not provide for one to assume the office of president without being elected in a national election. Being adopted or supported by a political party in power, or which has a majority in parliament, is not enough to make one assume the office of president.

It is surprising that the same people who were opposed to the MMD’s adoption of Ng’andu Magande as a preferred choice of the late president Levy Mwanawasa saying it would be undemocratic to do so are today trying to alter the same reasoning. Today, they want Rupiah Banda – their preferred choice, and who has since been adopted by the National Executive Committee of the ruling MMD as its candidate in the forthcoming presidential by-election – to be anointed as the president of the Republic of Zambia.

This is not only a question of double standards but one of not recognising the fact that the MMD is not a vanguard party in this country with the right to rule as it wishes and as a permanent godfather of this nation. Whereas the rules of the MMD in choosing its leadership can be twisted as and when its members feel like, the Constitution of Zambia cannot be twisted around to suit the interests of the dominant leadership of the MMD.

Our Constitution states very clearly under Article 34 (1) that the election of the President shall be direct by universal adult suffrage and by secret ballot. And Article 38 (1) states, among other things, that if the office of the President becomes vacant by reason of death, an election to the office of president shall be held in accordance with Article 34.

Clearly, there is no provision for choosing a president through a negotiated deal with other political parties. Even if other political parties were to agree to Rupiah becoming president without an election, this would still be illegal. The only thing that is allowed is for them to negotiate a deal with the opposition that allows Rupiah to go unopposed because being unopposed will make him duly elected. Any other deal won’t do unless the Constitution of the Republic of Zambia is accordingly amended to allow for Rupiah to assume office without directly being elected.

Under the first schedule (Section 3) of the official oaths Act, the oath the president takes states that “…having been constitutionally elected/re-elected to the Office of President of the Republic of Zambia…”, it does not say having been anointed, nominated or adopted to the Office of President of the Republic of Zambia. Clearly, the only way one can become president of this country is by a direct election and not through a deal with any individual or group of individuals whatever they may call themselves. And this must be respected.

If these gentlemen are ready to amend the Constitution and allow Rupiah to become president without a direct election, then those trying to give us a new constitution are wasting their time because expediency will always be there in life. But are we going to be changing the Constitution every time those in politics have an expediency to settle?

The 43 MMD national executive committee members do not represent the interests of all the Zambian people – they may not even truly represent the interests of all the MMD members.

This is not a good start for these gentlemen. They don’t inspire confidence. They instead generate fear in our minds - fear of what they will do if given power. It seems it’s not only the law they are ready to bend to achieve their desires, they have also shown us that loyalty is not something they respect, it’s not a sentiment they hold dear. They seem to be ready to dispense with anything if it serves their expediencies of the moment.

Let us not forget that elections are the central institution of democratic representative governments and shouldn’t be played around with. We say this because, in a democracy, the authority of the government derives solely from the consent of the governed.

The principle mechanism for translating that consent into governmental authority is the holding of free and fair elections. It is madness for anyone to think a man who has never been elected by any citizen of this country at any level should ascend to the highest office in the land without being elected by anyone, except the 43 MMD national executive committee members.

This is a very powerful office, with disproportionate powers, prerogatives and privileges for us to put somebody in that office on the strength of the lobby of his friends, family and tribesmen and other favour-seekers.

Moreover, our elections should not only be symbolic, they should be competitive and elections in which the chief decision makers in our government are selected by citizens.

Yes, the party in power may enjoy the advantages of incumbency, but the rules and conduct of the election contest must be fair and open to all eligible citizens, not only to those with a strong lobby of certain interest groups. And such elections should be inclusive.

By inclusive, we mean that the definition of those who are eligible to vote must be large enough to include a large portion of the adult population of our country, and not just members of the MMD’s national executive committee with the support of national secretaries of the opposition political parties.

Holding free and fair elections is the only way citizens are going to be confident that the government does, indeed, rest upon their consent.

As we have stated before, our country will mean nothing to the great majority of our people unless it means the triumph of democracy, the triumph of popular government, and, in the long run, of an economic system under which each individual shall be guaranteed opportunity to show the best that there is in him or her.

Rupiah’s sponsors’ attempt to twist the methods of choosing a president as set out in our Constitution into a machinery for defeating popular will shouldn’t be allowed under any form of political manipulation or compromises because doing so will mark the end of the rule of law and constitutionalism in this country. And when this happens, the door will be opened to anarchy and arbitrariness.