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NCC resolve to let National Assembly dissolve itself

NCC resolve to let National Assembly dissolve itself
Written by Ernest Chanda
Friday, September 11, 2009 4:49:37 PM

THE National Constitutional Conference (NCC) on Wednesday resolved that the National Assembly be given power to dissolve itself. This follows a recommendation in the Mung’omba draft constitution which seeks to give more autonomy to the National Assembly.

Article 158 Clause 2 (m) states that: “The National Assembly shall be responsible for summoning and dissolving the National Assembly.” But the NCC agreed to add the words “as provided for in this constitution.”

At first, the clause met resistance from some delegates, but they later acceded after NCC Legislative Committee chairperson Mutale Nalumango explained the rationale behind the clause.

She explained that her committee retained the clause because there could be instances where a president facing impeachment could not convene parliament for fear of being impeached.

Nalumango said it was therefore necessary to give parliament more autonomy so that it carried out its functions as expected by the people.

Debating the clause earlier, Monze UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu reminded the delegates that it was important to strengthen some of the powers of autonomy of the National Assembly that were already in the current constitution.

“I must state that some of the things we are complaining about here are already there in Article 88 of the current constitution. For those who are not aware, the third term debate was resolved by a petition to the National Assembly. Some members of parliament petitioned the Speaker and that’s how the issue was resolved. This is enough evidence that this particular clause is not entirely new, it has been there,” said Mwiimbu.

And Katuba MMD member of parliament Jonas Shakafuswa asked delegates who would convene Parliament in the event that the president was incapacitated.

“Let’s look at what happened last year when the President [late president Levy Mwanawasa] was incapacitated in France. He was incapacitated there and we were all waiting for his recovery. Now assuming that there were some important issues like appropriating funds to government departments through a budget which parliament could have attended to, who would have convened parliament in that circumstance?” asked Shakafuswa.

“Could it have been the acting president? These are some of the things we should look at. Let’s not just look at impeachment or dissolution, but there are many other national matters where parliament would be required to convene quickly.”

Labels: NCC

posted by MrK @ 3:53 PM