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Rupiah is scared of 50%+1 - Sata

Rupiah is scared of 50%+1 - Sata
By Patson Chilemba in Mbala and Chibaula Silwamba in Lusaka
Sat 20 Nov. 2010, 04:01 CAT

Michael Sata yesterday charged that Zambians have been robbed yet again over the none-inclusion of important pieces of legislation like the 50 per cent plus one clause in the Constitution. And PF secretary general Wynter Kabimba yesterday said the Rupiah Banda government has cheated Zambians on the constitution making process.

Reacting to Vice-President George Kunda’s comment that government will take some clauses of the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) for possible enactment excluding the 50 per cent plus one and other important pieces, Sata wanted to know when Kunda would stop being deceitful.

He said the government under the advice of Kunda decided to rob Zambians of their meagre resources through the NCC.

“When is comrade Kunda going to stop being deceitful? The people of Zambia have been fighting for a constitution to stand the test of time not a piecemeal constitution. Since the MMD appointed John Mwanakatwe, the constitution did not stand the test of time, they then appointed Wila Mung’omba and Chifumu Banda,” Sata said.

“What is the rush? The people shall make a constitution of their choice, not a constitution of George Kunda.”

He said people in Zambia had been robbed by George Kunda by expending hundreds of billions of tax payers’ funds on what he termed a bogus constitution.

Sata urged Vice-President Kunda to avoid cheating people that clauses referred to the referendum will not be in the constitution saying that was what they had planned for in the first place.

He observed that President Banda and his corrupt regime were scared of the 50 per cent plus one because it will be too much for them to rig the election.

He said they (President Banda and Vice-President Kunda) were also scared of the overwhelming rejection they would face from the Zambian people but were rushing to enact a constitution tailored for them.

“And if he says ‘we are going to Parliament’, what are they presenting to Parliament if the important piece like the referendum and other important things are not there?” he said.

Lusaka lawyer Edgar Lungu said the NCC was just a ploy to siphon money from the national treasury.
He said the government’s plan to enact “useless clauses” into law at the expense of important clauses justified those that boycotted the NCC as there was clearly no goodwill to enact a constitution that would meet people’s aspirations.

“It was just a ploy to siphon money out of government using a seemingly legitimate cause,” Lungu said.
And commenting on Vice-President George Kunda’s announcement that the government had began the process to have partial enactment of the Constitution except for clauses that require a referendum, including the 50 per cent plus one for winning presidential candidate, due to financial implications, Kabimba accused the government of duping Zambians.
Kabimba said at the time when late president Levy Mwanawasa’s government appointed the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission in 2003 and the Chifumu Banda-led NCC in 2007, it had assured Zambians that they would have a new constitution.

“After having duped the people of Zambia into believing that they were coming up with a completely new constitution because the current one is bad in terms of presidential powers, first past the post electoral system, be it because of inadequate Bill of Rights or its lacking social and economic rights,” said Kabimba, a lawyer. “All of us believed that the current constitution is bad in those areas hence the Zambians have been looking forward to a completely new constitution that will address these issues. By the government now turning around, as the Vice-President has said that we shall go for amendments of the 1996 Constitution, is actually an act of fraud. The government is committing an act of fraud in the eyes of the Zambian people.”

He wondered why the government was turning around after having spent over K135 billion on the constitution-making process.

Kabimba said the Banda government was doing exactly what the Frederick Chiluba government did in 1996.

“For me, this is the government that has cheated Zambians in the constitution making process, yet again,” Kabimba charged. “So the arguments that were raised by opposition political parties like the Patriotic Front and the civil society at the time of establishment of the NCC to the effect that this process is a fraud, sham and that it is not intended to serve the people of Zambia by giving them the constitution that will not stand the test of time, resonate very clearly today as they did at that time. We have been proven right.”

He said Zambians should not forgive the Banda regime for cheating them that it was going to give them a new constitution when in fact it was just piecemeal amendments. “Now we are talking about an amendment to the constitution. Therefore, as Patriotic Front, we believe that the issue of the Constitution is an election issue; we shall take it to Zambians to decide,” Kabimba said.
Kabimba said the government avoided the referendum for fear of the 50 per cent plus one threshold because its candidate could not get those votes.

“That is an act of fraud and RB Rupiah Banda knows that he can’t marshal more than 38 per cent of the votes in a presidential election today,” said Kabimba.

And Anti Voter Apathy Project (AVAP) executive director Bonnie Tembo said the clauses that were referred to the referendum, which the government has excluded, were more important than those what Cabinet resolved to be amended.

Tembo urged President Banda to cut on his trips so that the country could save money to hold a referendum.

He said the amendments the government wants to make to the Constitution would make it incomplete minus those clauses that had been referred to the referendum.

“It’s not in order to say that we are going to have a new constitution because that is not true. The best opportunity is now to have a referendum so that come 2011 we have a complete constitution. What has to go to the referendum is what the Zambians want. The government must respond to the needs of the people,” said Tembo. “We demand a referendum must be held.”

Labels: 50 PERCENT PLUS 1, MICHAEL SATA, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 5:24 AM