Maravi

NCC delegates vote on 50%+1

NCC delegates vote on 50%+1
By Ernest Chanda, Mwala Kalaluka and Chibaula Silwamba
Thu 21 Jan. 2010, 04:01 CAT

EAGERNESS characterised the mood at the NCC on Tuesday as delegates waited to cast votes for or against the 50 per cent plus one threshold, as recommended in the Mung’omba draft constitution for a Presidential candidate to win an election.

And UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has observed that the outcome of the vote on the 50 per cent plus one clause at the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) has embarrassed the MMD government.

But information minister and chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha said those that were advocating for the 50 per cent plus one threshold had failed.

Article 95 (1) of the Mung’omba draft constitution states that, “The election to the office of President shall be conducted on the basis of majoritarian system where the winning candidate must receive not less than fifty per cent plus one vote of the valid votes cast and in accordance with Article 125.”

And Article 125 (1) of the same draft constitution states that, “The President shall be elected directly in accordance with this Article, Article 95 and as may be provided by or under an Act of Parliament.”
The clause was referred to a secret vote last week Thursday after the delegates failed to reach consensus during an open vote.

Before the conference convened, several groups of delegates were seen scattered outside the lawns of Mulungushi International Conference Centre, openly discussing the clause and the manner of voting.
One delegate who was opposed to the clause was heard shouting, “lelo ni lelo, twalabalopola this is the day, we shall wallop them,” in reference to proponents of the same clause.

And for the first time in many months since the NCC sittings began two years ago, there was overwhelming turnout.
Prior to the sitting, most delegates were incensed by a 13:15 hours Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) news item where NCC spokesperson Mwangala Zaloumis was quoted as saying there would be no voting, citing logistical problems.

One delegate was heard complaining, “There must be something these people are hiding. Why don’t they want us to vote? We have always voted on other clauses without logistical problems, but why now?”
But it was later resolved that voting would go ahead at 18:30 hours.
Before the election, the delegates debated and concluded all the remaining Articles in the democratic governance committee report.

It was during these proceedings that Sinazongwe UPND member of parliament Raphael Muyanda rose on a point of order at about 17:50 hours, wondering if Lt Gen Shikapwasha was in order to continue distributing material aimed at influencing the manner of voting.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha was circulating a document in which he accused The Post of lying by stating in its Tuesday editorial comment that the nation had lived with a fifty per cent plus one clause since independence in 1964.

As Lt Gen Shikapwasha was distributing the statement inside the hall, information permanent secretary Ngosa Chisupa was also distributing the same material outside and urging people to vote against the clause.
Making a ruling on Muyanda’s point of order, NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda supported Lt Gen Shikapwasha’s maneuvers.

“As long as those campaigns are not disturbing the proceedings there is nothing wrong with that. We are all democrats here and we are allowed to campaign freely. So why are you afraid of seeing someone campaigning? We have all been given a chance to campaign. Vote ni cisinsi, vote is a secret, what is your problem?” Banda ruled.

At 18:00 hours, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) officials moved in to set up the voting process.
The exercise which kicked off at 18:40 hours later ended at 19:26 hours.
Vote counting then started at 19:28 hours, and later at 20:31 hours, returning officer Jocelyn Mubita announced the results.

A total of 446 votes were cast, and of these 186 voted for the clause while 260 voted against; and two votes were rejected.
Those who opposed the clause could however not get the vote because they failed to marshal the 297 votes required to reach a two-thirds majority.

NCC chairperson Chifumu Banda later announced that the Article was referred to a referendum since the delegates could not reach consensus.
The fifty per cent plus one threshold has been a subject of debate in the country since the first Constitution Review Commission in 1973.

The 1991 Mvunga Commission and the 1996 Mwanakatwe respectively recommended that a Presidential candidate should be elected by a fifty per cent plus one threshold in order for them to gain legitimacy.
Late president Levy Mwanawasa and his government strongly opposed the clause and refused to have the constitution making process enacted through a Constituent Assembly as demanded by many stakeholders.

The Mwanawasa administration then pushed for the NCC, a move that saw the three mother church bodies and other stakeholders stay away.
And in an interview shortly after witnessing NCC delegates vote on the clause, Hichilema said the MMD’s greed had been stopped through the vote.

“Look, Shikapwasha should be embarrassed but he has no sense of shame. Some people have no sense of shame like Shikapwasha. It is not just him, there was George Kunda in there, there was a master rigger in there and you saw he could not even come out of his chair. I think he is shocked that all the work that they did they have not managed to buy everyone. You know, you can’t buy everybody,” Hichilema said. “Solwezi by-election showed that you can’t buy everybody. This is what has been demonstrated today.”

Hichilema said his expectation before the vote was that the NCC delegates would outrightly give the people of Zambia the 50 per cent plus one presidential voting threshold.

“That is what the people wanted all along. We are aware that Honourable Shikapwasha this morning misled the nation by saying that there has never been 50 plus one. He amazes me. You know, his lack of intellectual capacity amazes me. The records are there clearly. So, the truth is that there has been 50 per cent plus one in this country before we even go to a neighbouring country,” Hichilema said. So, Shikapwasha has been misleading the nation and The Post has been right on this one. So, today’s vote I expected the delegates to do that which is good for the people of Zambia. They did not, some of them. I want to say thank you to those delegates who voted for the 50 per cent plus one and they were many. It means a lot of people are good inside here. Now, by the National Constitutional Act it means this provision has to go to a referendum… We knew anyway from the beginning that the NCC process was fraud. For us as UPND and other progressive Zambians we have managed to stop them today from getting their way, greedy way.”

Hichilema said the UPND was concerned that the government might not bring about the referendum arising from the NCC process.

“If they do, I think the wider public will decide for 50 per cent plus one because they are the public who have been pushing for 50 per cent plus one. Now, all I can say, what a waste because of poor leadership, people who want to hang in office, hang in there even as a minority government they want to manipulate processes,” Hichilema said. “The Zambian people have spoken through Mung’omba Commission, through Mwanakatwe Commission, through Mvunga Commission, through the Chona Commission and the previous constitutional provisions of majority rule… So, this is a betrayal to the people of Zambia, but there is a way to resolve this problem. In 15 months time we will go for a general election.”

Hichilema said Zambians would be decisive in voting out the greed that is housed within the MMD government.

“I was sitting here, the whole day, the whole afternoon and I could see master riggers manuouvering around,” he said. “We could see them and I am sure last night they paid so many people but we must congratulate those that have voted gallantly today, all of them. You know for us in UPND we only have 37 delegates but you saw the score, 184. It means there are great Zambians out there, even the MMD thinks they are their people, they have been able to rise to the challenge. I would have preferred that today we should have closed this debate.”

Hichilema said it was clear from the contradictions between Lt Gen Shikapwasha and Vice-President George Kunda during deliberations at the NCC that the MMD was a divided house.

“Shikapwasha on news today said The Post was wrong there has never been 50 per cent plus one in the history of Zambia even my grade four boy, who has a reasonable intelligence knows that there has been 50 per cent plus one in the history. George Kunda on the floor, because that issue came as a result of a clarification from a delegate, I am sure you were listening,” Hichilema said. “A delegate asked that somebody was misleading the nation…George Kunda and said in 1964 it was simple majority, George was wrong. We have checked that clause, the very document they were circulating I read it. It is very clear they were wrong because in 1963/64 you got voted in to lead a nation through the votes obtained by the members of parliament that is a British system. This is why I talked about independence time and then George Kunda confirmed that in 1973 it was 50 per cent plus one, 1991 constitution it was 50 per cent plus one. So the Vice-President is saying ‘hey shut up minister of information you do not know what you are talking about’.”

But Lt Gen Shikapwasha said he was not disappointed by the result because the people that were for the clause were nowhere near those that opposed it.

“Specifically what they wanted was to have 50 per cent plus one, they failed to have it because so many political leaders have been going on radio and television to speak. The NGOs mobilized themselves to do that, they have failed to get even more than 200 votes,” he said.
Lt Gen Shikapwasha said since the people had chosen the referendum over the clause it was something that had to go through.

“A referendum can be undertaken anytime if you say there is time, for example to carry out a referendum in this year for next year then that Act cannot appear in the electoral… next year then you go back to simple majority,” he said. “No, I am not banking on the simple majority, for me I have said my position. My position is that we must have simple majority for Zambia because this 50 plus you see it has created problems in Zimbabwe and everybody can see. It has created problems in Kenya and everybody can see. Why can’t they agree with me because in Zimbabwe it’s Morgan Tsvangirai who got the high votes, if it was first past the post he would have been president.”

Lt Gen Shikapwasha wondered why some people were not agreeing with him on the chaos that a 50 per cent plus one theshold could bring to Zambia when they could all see the chaos in neighbouring Zimbabwe.

Labels: 50 PERCENT PLUS 1, NCC

posted by MrK @ 11:45 AM