CNS STORY: Zambian bishops urge Catholics to study statement on reforms

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CNS Story:

ZAMBIA-CONSTITUTION Aug-14-2007 (420 words) xxxi

Zambian bishops urge Catholics to study statement on reforms

By Catholic News Service

LUSAKA, Zambia (CNS) -- Zambia's Catholic bishops have urged all Zambian Catholics to get together in small community groups to study their statement on constitutional reform, calling the current time a "critical moment in the democratic life" of the southern African country.

In the pastoral statement read in churches across the country Aug. 12 and scheduled to be broadcast daily for two weeks on church-sponsored community radio stations, the Zambian bishops' conference said group study will enable people "to understand what is at stake." The bishops encouraged Catholics "to call on their local members of parliament to fully explain to them how (they) will represent them on these constitutional issues."

The bishops said they told President Levy Mwanawasa at their July 12 meeting with him that Zambia will never have a legitimate constitution unless it is "genuinely a product of national consensus, that is, inclusive of all social groups in this country: political, religious, civil society, government" and others. A British-drafted constitution has been used since the former colony's independence in 1964.

"According to our traditional Zambian wisdom and practice, all serious issues are to be thrashed out in a wide group, representative of different opinions and viewpoints; otherwise there is the danger that a wise decision will not be reached and that the decision will not be accepted by the people," the bishops said in the statement signed by their conference president, Archbishop Telesphore Mpundu of Lusaka.

The bishops support recommendations, which were made in 2005 by a constitutional review committee, that the president be elected by a "50 plus 1 percent majority" instead of by simple majority. The recommendations also provide for reduced presidential powers and an independent judiciary.

A bill of rights and a constitutional court "which can handle both human rights cases and electoral issues" need to be established, the bishops said.

"We stand by the repeated demand of the people of Zambia for a new constitution, not an amended old constitution," they said.

The church has been outspoken in its insistence that the new constitution be enacted by a constituent assembly instead of parliament, which is dominated by Mwanawasa's party, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy.

The bishops said they join their voice "to those who are calling for patriotic sacrifice" by participants in the constituent assembly, "who should serve on the basis of sponsorship by their own organizations so as to reduce overall costs."

Mwanawasa repeatedly has said the country cannot afford the recommended constitution-making process.

END

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