Muteteka vows to support PF government's new constitution

Muteteka vows to support PF government's new constitution
By Brina Manenga
Sun 22 Jan. 2012, 13:56 CAT

MMD Chisamba member of parliament Moses Muteteka says he will support the new constitution that the current government will put in place as long as it highlights the concerns of the Zambian people.

In an interview, Muteteka said he would not use his affiliation to the opposition MMD to frustrate a good constitution that the technical committee tasked to come up with the legal document may put together.

"For me if they bring a good constitution and it includes issues that will benefit the people of Zambia, I will personally support it. I may be in the strongest opposition but I am also a Zambian who enjoys my own constitutional right. So I will definitely support if they bring a constitution that is people driven. They should however know that their constitution will not be supported if it is not people driven," he said.

Muteteka said all Zambians, regardless of their political affiliation, were eagerly waiting for the constitution, and urged the government to ensure that they bring a constitution that will be of value to the citizens.

He said there was need for consensus on all the clauses that Zambians were currently talking about so that they could be included in the new constitution.

"If we do not take care of the concerns of the majority and if we compromise on consensus, the majority will rise against the road map on the constitution-making process. Government should ensure that whatever it is doing, a consensus is reached. We have to consider the interests and concerns of every Zambian," he said.

"If they have put in the right people in place then there is no problem. What is important is to bring in new ideas. Maybe we missed something in our (MMD's) constitution that was rejected in Parliament."

Muteteka said Zambians were looking forward to seeing the value that government would add to the new constitution.

"So at this minute we cannot judge government because we have not seen the final report. We just have to wait and see. I cannot preempt or conclude, I will wait until they submit the document and then we will start analysing it and we will see if it takes into account the people's concerns," said Muteteka.

"This is a very big challenge for PF and I just hope they will be serious and take into account the things that people need. They should look at issues of social responsibility and issues of shelter. They should look at people with disability, the unemployed and many other contentious issues."