Saki Checks ‘Useless’ Scott Prominent lawyer Sakwiba Sikota has torn to pieces the claim by Vice President Guy Scott that having ministers outside parliament was an uncomfortable disposition. Sikota said only useless ministers would be afraid of having competition from personalities outside parliament. Below is Saki’s response preceded by what Scott said: GUY SCOTT ASKS CONSTITUTIONAL QUESTIONS. Vice President Guy Scott whilst addressing Zambian diplomats in Livingstone stated that the Patriotic Front government is uncomfortable with the proposed Constitutional clause allowing the appointment of cabinet from people outside parliament. He then went on to ask a few questions. “What the technical committee wants is to just swing it completely and go the American way so that none of the executive or cabinet members are elected. And the question is we know that is the American system, we have seen that before, we know that and other countries have the same system, so what is the problem? Why are we wanting to change the system?” asked Scott. “It is not that the new system that you want is bad but the question is why do you want to change? Why do we want to go the American way?” Scott added that there was need to show reason why they needed to select cabinet from outside parliament There are a few reasons why the change should be made. When you have a front and middle bench consisting of more than one third of the members of parliament, as is the case now, it erodes the Constitutional checks woven into our Constitution which allow for censure of the executive because of the in built majority this creates. Even President Sata has lamented at the choices he is given by the vagaries of an electoral system. He has stated that the cruel hand of the electoral dice have thrown him a pool to choose from that he refers to as “useless” and hence the reason he is inflicting “useless” ministers on the Zambian people. President Sata has also stated that he has been unable to give us a regionally and tribally balanced cabinet because of the fact that, again, the electoral system has dealt him an unbalanced hand to choose from and thrown him lemons from which lemonade cannot be made. President Sata has also tried to justify the poaching or opposition members of parliament to whom he has dangled and given ministerial appointments, with the consequent erosion of the checks and balances opposition politics is supposed to give, to being put in the straight jacket of having to pick from a pool of people- those he has decried as “useless”. Last, but not least, is because this has been a consistent demand made by the Zambian people to repeated Constitutional Review Commissions. After all the PF Government promised that they would deliver a “people driven Constitution” to the people. Or was this just another ninety day lie? Only the useless would be afraid that their chances of being chosen to be members of cabinet or deputy ministers would be minimized if the President had a free hand to choose quality and useful people to fill the cabinet. No wonder Scott and his colleagues have failed to deliver on their ninety day promises. Perhaps to be fair to Guy Scott we should ask him why he feels uncomfortable with the stated desire of the people. Whilst at it he could also give us the strong reasons why cabinet should be chosen from Parliament. zambiareports/2014/06/04/saki-checks-useless-scott/
Posted on: Wed, 04 Jun 2014 05:58:04 +0000
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