VJ Cautions PF against Constitution Dribbling Veteran politician Vernon Mwaanga says Zambians will deliver their verdict in 2016 if the Patriotic Front does not give them the promised constitution. And Mwaanga, commonly known as VJ, says there must be dialogue between the ruling Patriotic Front and opposition political parties. Featuring on Muvi TV’s The Assignment programme, Mwaanga said the selective application of the Public Order Act was a throw back in the pre-democracy era. “It is not justified in my view because the people of this country deserve to have a new constitution; we spent a lot of taxpayers’ money under MMD, under PF not to have a new constitution,” he said. “If we do not have a new constitution by 2016, the people of Zambia will be very bitterly disappointed because we have been talking, the political leaders have been talking about the constitution for many years and we have already outlined how many commissions were there.” He said the PF had promised the people a new constitution and had no choice but to deliver it. “The country needs a new constitution, they were promised a new constitution, PF promised and in all fairness they must give the people of Zambia a new constitution,” Mwaanga said. “I hope it does come forth because if it doesn’t I will be very disappointed like many other Zambians and fortunately Zambians do have an opportunity in 2016 to be able to express their views at elections which are going to be held. They are the employers.” The veteran who served in three governments said political alliances were viable if anchored on firm political foundation. “I have come from a history of alliances in my stint from UNIP and even in the time I split from UNIP it had nothing to do with the leadership of Dr Kaunda. Personally, I made it clear to my colleagues that it had nothing to do with the leadership of Dr Kaunda,” he said. “It had to do with the desire to change a political system from One Party to multi party. At that time I was from ZACCI, FTJ was from the trade union people like Mbita [Chitala], Aka [Akashambatwa Mbikusita], Katele [Kalumba], [Kabinga] Mpande, we had a number of other people from the student movment like Edward Setuke, [Edith] Nawakwi, [Kabunda] Kayongo academia and business.” He said, “It was an alliance of various groups that recognized a need to get together to change the system and that is how we managed to dislodge UNIP in 1991. BECAUSE OF THAT I COME from a history where alliances have been known to succeed provided they have an agenda, they have to define an agenda what they are all about and how they intend go about it.” Mwaanga cautioned any opposition political party reluctant to join alliances as setting the stage for disaster. “And if there is any opposition political party that thinks they can achieve their objective in 2016 alone they are mistaken and I fear that those parties which don’t agree to work together with the others for the common good of everyone and not the common good of individuals and for the common good of the country they will pay a very high price,” he said. “There must be an agenda, what is it that they will offer the people of Zambia as an alternative in 2016 and the Zambian people will have to examine that agenda and examine the agenda of the PF and make an informed decision.” Mwaanga said there was need for dialogue in the country. “MMD recognizes that after 20 years the people wanted change and I think there is recognition that unless they work with other parties the opposition will not be effective,” he said. “There are many issues to deal with in the opposition it is not just about governance, it is about the constitution interpretation of the Public Order ACT, dialogue and I have not seen this under the PF. It is absolutely necessary that there be dialogue between ruling party and opposition.” The veteran freedom fighter said the Public Order Act has been a major stumbling block in democratic steps made since 1991. “But the Public Order Act remains a major stumbling block to some of these freedoms because you will recall that the Supreme Court did strike out certain provisions in the Public Order Act which required citizens to acquire permits to address meetings,” he said. “Now the new amendment only requires that you notify the police but the police are still behaving like political organizations and citizens need permits to address meetings or police permission to go and address public meetings.” He added: “There is obviously some misunderstandings over this issue and that’s why I do hope that through this dialogue that I have spoken about, government can iron out these issues with the police and with the opposition parties and with other organizations.” zambiareports/2014/02/03/vj-cautions-pf-constitution-dribbling/
Posted on: Mon, 03 Feb 2014 08:03:47 +0000