Maravi

EFZ appeals for restraint, maturity among MPs

EFZ appeals for restraint, maturity among MPs
By Masuzyo Chakwe
Sun 30 Sep. 2012, 09:58 CAT

ZAMBIANS should not be passive spectators but instead be active participants to the development process of the country, says Rev Pukuta Mwanza.

Rev Mwanza, the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia executive director, yesterday said that in order to move the country forward, everyone should put Zambia first.

He said President Michael Sata's opening remarks when he opened Parliament were aimed at creating an atmosphere in the Parliament that would allow for a healthy co-existence between parliamentarians from different political parties.

"We appeal to all the parliamentarians to exercise emotional restraint and show maturity in debating issues," he said in apparent reference to Mwandi MMD member of parliament Michael Kaingu's tearing of the President's speech to Parliament last Tuesday.

Rev Mwanza said the President's speech to Parliament was critical because it formed the basis for debate in the house and also it was expected to show the government's development agenda, vision and direction for the country.

He said the President should attach great importance to the process of developing his speech to Parliament by ensuring that the document was of high quality, reflecting government's performance in the past, challenges encountered and inspiring the nation with a hope and a direction for the future.

"We observed too that the recent President's speech left out some vital issues that should have been addressed and the content was diluted by excessive humour in the delivery of the speech.

The President deprived himself of an opportunity to exhibit a great passion in sharing the vision of where his government was taking the nation," he said. "The speech needed to inspire a greater sense of having to deal with uncertainties, challenges faced by government in seeking to fulfil its election campaign promises and how these challenges were going to be tackled as the government was entering its second year in power such as the growing youth unemployment, high poverty levels."

Rev Mwanza said a brief comparison between the campaign promises and the developmental outcomes in the first year should have been clearer.

He said it was important to note that each government builds on the good foundation of the previous governments and in some cases the shaky foundations were rebuilt.

Rev Mwanza said the government should not be pre-occupied as to who would take the glory.

"If Zambia achieves its socio-economic goals, then we will have succeeded as 'a people'. In addition, the PF government stayed in the bench warming up for 10 years preparing to hit the ground running. We expect that they should have closely watched the game that MMD was playing so that they make a significant difference and great impact in those areas they are best at in the shortest possible time," he said. "This is a job where there is no extension of time of play to over injury time.

Where the constitution pre-determines the date of the election, it means that once the 90 minutes is gone, it is gone. Some of the good intentions have been made but serious business should accompany the willingness to do because there is little or no room for political entertainment."

He said the fact that President Sata had shuffled his Cabinet a number of times meant that there had been difficulty in finding the right mix of people to deliver the election promises.

"Perhaps the best team combination and team permutation is not a very easy undertaking after all. We should always pray that the right people will bring development to this economically thirsty nation," he said.

Rev Mwanza said the role of members of parliament was crucial in moving the country forward because they could put aside their partisan politics and debate motions in the House objectively.

"Then we can see more progressive legislation, a greater commitment to ensuring effective government performance, quality debates and improved governance systems. The MPs should perform their role by exercising highest levels of restraint from highly emotional expressions when reacting to the motions on the floor. We therefore express our deepest concern at the action by the honourable member of parliament Michael Kaingu who tore the President's speech as a reaction to its apparent inferior standard," he said.

He said the EFZ felt Kaingu's action was excessive and emotionally unacceptable because the natural way of responding to the speech was to debate it.
Rev Mwanza said Kaingu's action was regrettable, disgraceful and an emotional excess.

He said members of parliament should exhibit high levels of debating skills and analytical thinking capabilities that should help to hold the government accountable for its action.

Kaingu has defended his action, saying it was meant to protect Parliament's decorum.

Labels: EFZ, MICHAEL SATA, PUKUTA MWANZA

posted by MrK @ 6:43 PM