IT’S ALL LIES, MANIPULATION: DELIMITATION, INCREASING WOMEN’S, YOUTH, AND PEOPLE LIVING WITH DISABILITIES’ REPRESENTATION DOESN’T NEED CONSTITUTION TO BE AMENDED
Mr Hakainde Hichilema has not been honest about the true reasons for his manoeuvres to amend the Constitution.
Initially, his main reason for seeking to amend the Constitution was to cure lacunae. Today, it is to increase the participation of women, young people, and those living with disabilities. And in addition or as a by the way, to effect delimitation of the constituencies that have become too vast geographically and whose populations have become too big and as such deserve to be subdivided.
I hate liars and manipulators. Manipulation has no substance and has no deep roots. Manipulation is synonymous with opportunism.
Manipulation is always distressing, but sometimes it is dangerous; and when you get it manifested in the head of the State, and it has become the policy of a government, it is about time it should be resolutely put away.
I cannot think of a more contemptible man – my power of imagination fails me to bring into my mind’s eye a more despicable man than the man that tries to manipulate, dribble the whole nation.
The truth is Mr Hichilema seeks and attempts to justify his push for constitutional amendments by citing the need to increase youth, women, and persons with disabilities’ representation in Parliament and to effect delimitation of constituencies. We reject this justification as misleading. Let me start with the last – delimitation.
There is no relationship between delimitation and constitutional amendment. These two exercises are entirely separate from each other. First, delimitation is provided for in Article 58 and Article 59 of the Constitution. The amendment of the constitution is provided for under Article 79.
Second, the power to carry out delimitation is given to the Electoral Commission of Zambia while the power to amend the Constitution is given to the National Assembly. Delimitation can be conducted without amending the constitution. According to Article 58, the purpose of delimitation is to review the names and boundaries of constituencies and wards. ECZ can alter boundaries and rename the constituencies, but it has no power to recommend an increase in the number of constituencies. The idea behind delimitation is to maintain a proper ratio between the number of people in a given constituency and Member of Parliament representing them. For instance, if one constituency has 500, 000 people and the neighbouring one has 100 people, the ECZ can redraw the boundaries of the two constituencies to ensure that the people are evenly distributed between the two constituencies.
There is nowhere in the law where ECZ is given the power to recommend the creation of new constituencies. If the argument is that making recommendations for an increase in the number of constituencies is international best practices, the counter to that is that even those international best practices have to be domesticated. This explains why international treaties that Zambia signs are not binding until they have been domesticated in local legislation.
It would be absurd to suggest that just because delimitation must be carried out every ten years, then the constitution should also be amended every ten years. There is no relationship between the two.
Let me end with the issue of increasing the representation of women, the youth, and people living with disabilities.
The current Constitution, under Article 259, already mandates the president to ensure equal representation of these groups in public appointments. The problem is not the Constitution—it’s the government’s failure to respect and implement its provisions.
If the true goal is to enhance the political participation of these marginalized groups, we propose a more effective and immediate alternative. We call upon all political parties to ensure enactment under Article 60 of the Constitution, which envisages that there will be subsidiary legislation to make provisions for regulation of political parties. Article 60(2) (a) says a political party shall promote the values and principles specified in the Constitution.
To ensure the enactment of subsidiary legislation to give effect to PART V REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE of the Constitution, which says in Article 45. (1) (d) the electoral systems shall ensure gender equity in the National Assembly or Council. We implore the ruling UPND to join this commitment if they are sincere about fostering diversity by enacting the Act envisaged by Article 60. We stand ready to sign a formal accord and engage in discussions on the implementation of this proposal, which would immediately increase representation without subjecting the Constitution to partisan alterations.
This would guarantee a significant increase of women and youth representation in the National Assembly without the need for constitutional amendments.
Fred M’membe
President of the Socialist Party