Netherlands Institute for Multiparty Democracy

A major development has changed the political landscape of Zambia. In their undertaking to establish a dialogue platform to discuss key national challenges, the political parties have agreed on a revision of the constitution.

Facilitated by the Zambian Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID), the parties achieved the agreement on 23 June at a Summit of the Presidents of all major political parties in Lusaka, just three days before the offical launch of the Centre. Supported by NIMD, ZCID will continue to facilitate the constitutional reform process, helping the parties prepare proposals to be submitted to Parliament.

At the Summit, a road map was approved for a Constitutional Conference and a working method, involving a final say by Parliament and a deadline to complete the process by the end of 2008. Thus far, agreement on these issues has been beset by widely diverging views of the major stakeholders.
 
 
Dialogue platform
 
On 26 June, the political parties launched the ZCID, which is at the heart of interparty dialogue in Zambia. The ZCID is the culmination of efforts of the Zambian politicians who since 2005 have sought to establish a dialogue platform. ZCID is fully owned and managed by the Zambian political parties, and has enjoyed support, both technically and financially, from NIMD since 2004.

Speaking at the launch, the President of Zambia, H.E. Hon Levy Mwanawasa requested all citizens to give the process of dialogue and consensus-building a chance, calling on them to ‘trust this process and remain engaged.’ He also called on other donors to join in the spirit of partnership with which NIMD has facilitated and assisted the Zambian political system in the past few years.

As foreign guests of honour, former Dutch MP Prof Henk De Haan (Dutch Christian Democrats, CDA) and NIMD Executive Director Roel von Meijenfeldt expressed NIMD’s commitment to continue supporting the efforts of the ZCID, and encouraged the Zambian politicians to cultivate dialogue as a crucial element to generate trust, which is an essential ingredient of democracy.