ZAMBIA: Country's quest for a new constitution blocked by tussles over how to undertake its adoption

Record ID: 454447

  • Title: ZAMBIA: Country's quest for a new constitution blocked by tussles over how to undertake its adoption
  • Date: 24th July 2007
  • Summary: (AD1) LUSAKA, ZAMBIA (JULY 20, 2007) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON AND INFORMATION MINISTER, MIKE MULONGOTI, WORKING IN HIS OFFICE (SOUNDBITE) (English) CHIEF GOVERNMENT SPOKESPERSON AND INFORMATION MINISTER, MIKE MULONGOTI, SAYING : "The same members of parliament were going to be requested to cede some of their powers to a constituent assembly which was going to be a new creation. Now, the government was of the view that look we can go it another way by going to a constitutional conference because a constitutional conference was not going to seek for those powers of having legislative authority. The constitutional conference is going to be a meeting of stakeholders in which they will debate and agree on those clauses that can be amended by the parliament of Zambia."
  • Embargoed: 8th August 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Zambia
  • Country: Zambia
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVAAOQ2EGOUG6V4WYLRGJ9BHGLH5
  • Story Text: About 3,000 protesters gathered outside Zambia's parliament on Thursday (July 19) demanding that it give ordinary people more say in drafting a new constitution.
    The protesters said they wanted a comprehensive overhaul of the constitution and not the planned amendment of parts of the document proposed by a grouping of political parties.
    In 2004 Zambia launched a constitution review commission that toured the country collecting views and recommended that the constitution should be adopted by an assembly of eminent people before being passed by parliament.
    "A constituent assembly is one which is seeking to change the constitution of Zambia comprehensively, yet a constitutional conference seeks to amend the constitution in peace-meal. And so, we are wary of this process because we have amended the Zambian constitution several times," said Lee Habasonda, the executive director of the Southern African Centre For The Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD).
    Emily Sikazwe, the executive director of Women for Change, a group that promotes development in rural communities, said it was wrong for politicians to depart from the people's wishes.
    "We don't want to allow politicians to dissect what we the people would have agreed upon in the constituent assembly. They have done this before through the white paper and we have seen archaic constitutions for 43 years.
    This time around, the women of Zambia will not allow them. Constituent assembly is needed and is needed now," said Sikazwe.
    But leaders of political parties including the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) have met and agreed instead to present a bill to parliament to amend only selected parts of the constitution. The move has been greatly resisted by civil and church groups.
    "We see the risk that we have had in the other CRC's (Constitution Review Commission's) where people's recommendations are thrown out by the sitting government, and parliament has been used to circumvent what people have always wanted. So, we see with this preposition from the ZCID (Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue) the same thing that you know they want the parliament to take the lead. We have no problems with parliament making laws but when it comes to the constitution, I think the people's demands are paramount and this is why we feel this pressure is important on the parliamentarians, the ones who make laws so that they can pass the constituent assembly bill and that the process starts to begin to look at this constitution," said Joe Komakoma, a representative of the Catholic Bishops In Zambia.
    Mike Mulongoti, the Chief Government Spokesperson and Information Minister, sought to clarify the government's stance on the adoption of the new constitution.
    "The same members of parliament were going to be requested to seed some of their powers to a constituent assembly which was going to be a new creation. Now, the government was of the view that look we can go it another way by going to a constitutional conference because a constitutional conference was not going to seek for those powers of having legislative authority. The constitutional conference is going to be a meeting of stakeholders in which they will debate and agree on those clauses that can be amended by the parliament of Zambia," said Mulongoti.
    The new constitution calls for a reduction of presidential powers in the copper-producing country.
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