Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

On 22 August the bill passed second reading in parliament and was supported by both government and most opposition Members of Parliament (MPs). After years of great tensions and disagreement between government and civil society over the procedures Zambia should put in place to ensure a constitutional review, the political parties jointly came up with a compromise in May.

The debate was led by MP Dr. Katele Kalumba, the Chairperson of the Zambia Center for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID). This centre has been set-up by the Zambian political parties with support from NIMD with the aim to promote inter-party dialogue on issues of national interest.

In his passionate opening remarks in support of the bill, Dr Kalumba cited the important role that ZCID played in facilitating internal party consultations and in hosting the Summit of Party Presidents in June. At the summit the leaders of the political parties adopted the compromise road map for constitutional review.

Trading and negotiating

With the support of NIMD, the Zambia Center for Interparty Dialogue provided logistical support to political parties in order for them to consult their constituents across the country about the content and mode of adopting the new constitution.

After these consultations in May the parties presented their individual party positions to the ZCID, which is composed of Secretary-Generals and National-Secretaries of parties, for harmonization. Two weeks of trading and negotiating passed before the political parties came up with a common position both on the content and process.

These two reports were presented before the Summit of Party Presidents in June. The Summit deferred deliberations on the content to a later date but agreed on the process. It was unanimously decided that a Constitutional Conference should adopt the proposed constitution before enactment by Parliament.


‘Heading in the right direction’

Since then ZCID has continued to engage other stakeholders including civil society organisations and government to ensure that the views of the people are incorporated.

Most of the MPs were therefore happy to learn that the Bill had been improved and that most of their recommendations were taken on board. After the Bill was passed on 22 August, ZCID Executive Director, Mr. Chomba Chella, expressed satisfaction that at last Zambia was getting somewhere:

"What struck me most was the collective passion and wisdom with which the members from most political parties debated in support of the bill. This shows that we are heading in the right direction."

The bill has gone back to the committee so that issues raised on the floor could be incorporated before the bill comes up for third and final reading on 24 August 2007.