Maravi

Magande's all-inclusive government

Magande's all-inclusive government
By The Post
Wed 21 Mar. 2012, 12:00 CAT

IT seems sometimes we forget what type of political system we have in this country and what type of government it gives rise to. Constitutionally, ours is a multiparty political system in which the presidential candidate who obtains the highest number of votes forms government. And it doesn't matter how many members of parliament his political party has.

The winning presidential candidate appoints his cabinet from members of parliament. And the winning candidate has the right to nominate eight qualified citizens to Parliament.

The winning candidate, who is now president of the Republic, has the right to appoint cabinet ministers and deputy ministers from all willing members of parliament, be they from the opposition political parties or independents.

The political party that wins the election comes up with its own policies and programmes. It also comes up with its own staff. Political appointees of the previous regime are not entitled to carry on occupying public offices.

Although they are not required to automatically vacate their public offices, they are usually relieved of their duties within a few days or weeks of the new government. And this cannot be said to constitute discrimination on the part of the new government.

Political appointees have to follow those who appointed them. When those who appointed them leave government, they too must leave. Only professional civil servants and other public officers should have the right to remain in their jobs. But even them can be transferred or retired by the new government.

And as things stand today, most of our senior civil servants and other public officers are political appointees with no right to remain in the civil or public service after those who appointed them leave office. Of course, we have had people who have changed political loyalties like chameleons and have been members of every new government.

We also have had politicians who have been in almost every new government as if they were living in a one party state.

There is no need for our new government to retain the services of people who yesterday were partisan to the previous ruling party. Each political party should come up with its own political appointees for those jobs that are normally filled through such appointments.

Today, almost all our permanent secretaries are political appointees, and when this government goes, they too should go where they came from. Those who came from the civil service as professional civil servants should remain in the civil service as such.

Those who came from structures of the ruling party should go back to the ruling party for new redeployments. This also applies to those in the diplomatic service. Those who are civil servants should remain in the civil service and those who are from the ranks of the ruling party should also go back to where they came from.

The new government shouldn't be burdened with people they don't need, they can't work with, they don't trust. There is no discrimination in this. This is the nature and character of a multiparty political system - one team moves in as another team leaves.

In this way, our multiparty democracy will be strengthened. We need strong and credible opposition. We also need a strong and credible civil society. We can't have everyone who is politically active being in government. Some should be in the opposition.

A multiparty democracy is not only governed by those in government. Those in the opposition also participate in the governance by providing checks and balances and in the process helping to refine or purify government policies and programmes.

In a multiparty political dispensation, participation is not only through the ruling party but also through the opposition and civil society. However, it seems we have some people who are not prepared to be in the opposition and want to be in government all the time regardless of which political party is in power.

Being in the opposition does not mean that one is being divisive. A multiparty political system encourages another form of unity - unity in diversity.
In any true democracy, more is needed than just being in government. We must hold on to some values and norms, some expectations and aspirations.

This is the environment, the atmosphere, that makes democracy work. This is the so-called political culture which we feel is so necessary in Zambia today if our multiparty democracy is to succeed.

The fundamental value we must have is a respect for diversity and acceptance of pluralism. As we have stated before, gone are the days when everyone was supposed to think the same way, belong to the same political party, and support the same programme.

True believers in multiparty democracy recognise that there is a specific role to be played by each different organisation in a spirit of unity amidst diversity. This value of respect of diversity means a realisation that political parties are important although they are not the only actors in democracy.

There is no need for people to think that they can only participate in the governance of their country through being appointed to some public office or job by the president.

In the light of this, it is difficult to understand why Ng'andu Magande wants Michael Sata to strive to lead an all-inclusive government. What does he mean by an all-inclusive government? Does he mean a government that includes opposition leaders like himself? Michael should appoint him to his government as finance minister or vice-president?

However, we agree with Magande when he says that there is need to embrace people who are interested in the development of the nation. After all, the government is the instrument by which people cooperate in order to achieve the common good, it is the authority that guides the energies of all towards the common good.

What is needed is a constitutional setup that encourages professionalism in the civil service and the public sector in general; and that ensures that as few political appointments as possible are made to the public sector, especially the civil service.

As things stand now, the President has the power and the right to fill the top civil service offices with his political cadres. We should not continue to rely on how well the president exercises his discretion.

We should find a better and professional way of appointing our top civil servants. The current practice has not been good and in some way has hindered the capacity of our successive governments to deliver.

We are asking too much of our presidents by trying to turn them into super human resource managers dealing with recruitments, promotions, dismissals and retirements.

With the current system, it is not possible to have a well-functioning public sector because merit is not necessarily the basis for appointments. And where there is no merit, performance suffers.

Labels: MICHAEL SATA, NG'ANDU MAGANDE

posted by MrK @ 5:36 PM