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Zambian constitution campaigners vow to withdraw support for governing party in next year's elections

Xinhua, December 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

A coalition campaigning for people-driven constitution in Zambia on Thursday vowed to withdraw support for the governing party, citing it has denied Zambians such a constitution.

Last Friday, the Zambian parliament approved the 2015 Constitution Amendment Bill which paves the way for the enactment of a new constitution, amid protests from constitutional campaigners over the decision by the lawmakers to remove some clauses from the draft constitution.

Some of the clauses removed from the draft constitution included the selection of ministers outside parliament, mixed member proportional representation, among others.

The governing Patriotic Front (PF) used its numbers in parliament in collaboration with the opposition Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), in pushing for the adoption of the bill.

President Edgar Lungu has already indicated that he will sign the bill into law once it was sent to his table and that he will invite all stakeholders to witness the signing ceremony.

But the Grand Coalition on the Campaign for a People-Driven Constitution said it will not support the two political parties in next year's general elections for denying Zambians a people-driven constitution.

"The people of Zambia have clearly been duped by the Patriotic Front government and now it is trying to blindfold the citizenry to think that a people-driven constitution has been delivered. The bill that was passed is not a new constitution but amendments to the constitution," Sara Longwe, the coalition's vice-chairperson told reporters during a press briefing.

She said what parliament passed is not what the people of Zambia drafted, adding that what happened in parliament is part of the treachery the coalition had warned Zambians to be wary about.

Recollecting how the final draft constitution was birthed, it is extremely treacherous for any person to alter the contents of a document that was compiled by the people of Zambia, she added.

"The way in which the PF have handled their amendment of the constitution shows they want to limit citizens' participation in the democratic governance of this country. We have every reason to fear that the current human rights violations through the limitation of the enjoyment of people's freedoms are just but a beginning of worse things to come especially ahead of the election," she said.

The current constitution-making process began in November 2011 when late President Michael Sata appointed a 20-member Technical Committee to draft the new constitution.

Zambia has had four constitution review processes since independence from Britain in 1964 and analysts have said the processes have been costly ventures to the country. Endit