Grand Coalition hails PF

Fr Chiti

The Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a People-Driven Constitution (GC) has noted with interest that the Patriotic Front has finally seen the light and taken a position against the parliamentary route to constitution amendment by snubbing the appearance and submission to the committee on legal affairs.

Reacting to PF Secretary General Davies Chama who on Monday told QFM that the ruling party had deliberately opted not to appear before the Parliamentary Committee on Legal Affairs which is receiving submissions on the Constitution Bill, to avoid contradicting the government position on the contents of the final draft constitution, Grand Coalition Chairperson Fr Leonard Chiti in a statement says while the move by the PF to listen to the people on the Parliamentary process is commendable, the party leadership should go a step further and engage the Minister of Justice on the constitution making process in order to revert to the promises they made to enact the constitution through a referendum.

Fr. Chiti says the Grand Coalition declined a request to appear before the parliamentary committee receiving submissions on the Constitution Bill 2015 as doing so would be validating a process that was aimed at altering the contents of the final draft constitution through debates.

He states that the contents of the Constitution Amendment Bill reflect the voice and aspirations of the Zambian people, therefore should not be tempered with through debates.

He says it’s gratifying to note that the Patriotic Front is among major political parties that heed the Grand Coalition’s appeal to all stakeholders to decline to appear before the parliamentary committee on legal affairs in order not to legitimize the process of receiving submissions.

Fr. Chiti adds that it is encouraging to see that for once, the PF have chosen to see issues from the perspective of the Zambian People and stayed away from debating and altering the content of the final draft constitution which is the people’s voice.

Fr Chiti states that it is hoped that the government will take note of the disapproval of all its stakeholders including the ruling party who have declined appearance before the committee to submit on the Constitution amendment bill.

He says it is also hoped that Members of Parliament will also take this into consideration when the constitution bill is presented to them.

Fr Chiti says the Grand Coalition maintains that the tabling of the Constitution Bill before the National Assembly of Zambia for debate and consequent amendments is a clear violation of the democratic practice in the constitution making process and also the PFs’ own manifesto.