THERE IS NO DRAFT BILL YET, STILL CONSULTING – KASUNE
JUSTICE minister Princess Kasune has see dismissed claims that there is a draft Bill of the proposed constitutional amendment at the Ministry of Justice.
Kasune clarified that there is currently no draft Bill for the constitution and that government was still in the process of gathering information and consulting stakeholders.
The minister added that the current stage was considered an information gathering phase because it includes gathering information by consulting various stakeholders such as the civil society and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ).
She assured the nation that the draft Bill will consist longstanding issues and concerns which have been raised by Zambians for years.
The minister further assured that once the Bill is drafted, it will go through the required legal processes, including gazetting for 30 days, parliamentary scrutiny and public consultations.
“I want to also make it clear that there’s no Bill yet or draft Bill. What we have or working on are the provisions that will inform the draft Bill. Until then, we are doing information gathering. What we have heard from civil society and different stakeholders is part of information gathering.it’s not just now, it’s also looking at the reports and some of what was written by ECZ in 2019.”
“It is within that understanding that now there will be the drafting of the Bill. Even when a Bill is drafted you still have to take it for gazzeting which will happen for 30 days. Within that period of time the content will be explained,” she disclosed on ZNBC Sunday Interview.
Away from that, Kasune said the Bill will come to the house, when it is introduced, then sent to the committee.
“The committee now calls the different stakeholders even at that point. Once the draft is presented in parliament and open for the public they will be grateful that we have the courage as a government to look at these issues,” Kasune added.
The minister also dispelled claims by the opposition that government wanted to increase the presidential term limit or tamper with the 50 percent plus one threshold for elections.
“There is no intention for us to extend the presidential term limit. There is no intention to look at the provision that relates to the 50 plus. We are looking at some of the things that we think the Zambian people have been raising for years. Once the Bill is presented to parliament, it will be scrutinised. For now we will keep on hearing from different people on different forums,” she said.
The minister revealed that the government was also finalising a roadmap outlining the participation of stakeholders in the review process.
“We expect to release this roadmap soon or introduce it to parliament within this month,” she said.
“It will include timelines for gazetting and the first reading in Parliament.”
Kasune added that government was committed to ensuring that the constitutional review process is conducted in a transparent and inclusive manner.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba,