UPND Leader Hakainde Hichilema has said that his Members of Parliament will go with the position of the Grand Coalition with regards the Constitution Bill which comes up for second reading in Parliament today.
Mr. Hichilema said that the UPND cannot support a process it knows will deliver piece meal amendments when what the people of Zambia want is a whole new constitution adopted through a referendum.
Mr. Hichilema said that he suspects that the ruling PF wants the current constitution making process to fail just like previous processes have been failing because the ruling PF allegedly wants some provisions of the draft constitution not to be retained in the new Constitution.
Mr. Hichilema stated that what the ruling party does not however realize is the fact that the Constitution belongs to the People of Zambia.
He said that the People of Zambia have already spoken in this case that they want a new Constitution which includes the Bill of Rights.
Mr. Hichilema stated that this therefore implies that Parliament is a wrong platform to deliver a new constitution.
He said that being the party in government, the ruling PF is supposed to do what the people want because this is what he believes leadership entails.
Mr. Hichilema however told QFM News that UPND Members of Parliament have not been given any specific instructions with regards the constitution amendment bill.
Awe sure! To others the constitution process has to fail otherwise there will be nothing to campaign on in 2016.
The PF promised a new constitution within 90 days, now in their 5th yr in power, they want to bulldoze a half baked constitution. Prof Muna Ndulo, a respected Constitutional Lawyer punched holes in the draft which below average lawyers like Simbyakula and Edgar can not comprehend. Very few MPs in PF really know anything about the constitution…so in all fairness…let us address this issue after the 2016 general elections
Oooooooooh this man…this man ….this man. Zambians this man means no good for you open your eyes this man is something else.
Who doesn’t know that you are the architect of the same Grand coalition lies never hide my dear.
HH and UPND open your eyes!!! All the major clauses that Zambians including yourselves (UPND) have been crying for are in the draft bill presented to parliament. It is understandable that the ruling party has been expected to temper with these clauses but they have not. They also know that you and the Grand Coalition are opposed to the route of using parliament, so they are insisting on this route. PF will vote for it (even if they do not agree with it) and UPND will not vote for it because disagreement of the route (even if they agree with it). In the end, if you vote against the constitution bill, Edgar will have done a Dont Kubeba on you because it is UPND who will have denied Zambians the constitution.
FYOMPIZO ABOVE MAKES A LOT Of SENSE!!! HH/UPND PLEASE, JUST VOTE FOR THIS THING AND SHUT UP EVERYONE INCLUDING PF.
I do not know which people you speak for bwana HH. I for one does not believe that it is logical to adopt the whole constitution through a referendum because there are a lot things that I do not agree with in the draft constitution and voting on the whole document does not give anyone chance to debate these issues. Besides, the referendum requires at least 50% of ELIGIBLE voters to take part for it to be valid and looking at the recent trend of voter turn out this may not be achieved, hence parliament presents the greater opportunity to amend the constitution.
useless hh, On the referendum government said it has no money, its costly and you (hh) talk of cost effectiveness and adding to the challenges the country is facing its not possible, therefore if NGOs and the foolish hh want a referendum pls take out your money we will go for the referendum.
HH we know that you cant support anything which the PF govt is doing because you don’t believe in them and you don’t trust them at all. But what you must realize is that a good thing is a good thing despite the negative reports it continues to receive. All this has been explained already but you chose to play politics even on important things like the Constitution. Tell us were you think the money for the whole document to be done will come from before the 2016 general elections, non contentious issues can be included before the 2016 elections. Thereafter, the whole document will go with the general elections in 2016. What is wrong with you? We don’t need to leave things for chance, God forbid if we are faced with a tragedy.
Constitution making process should be on going. We already have a draft constitution that everyone was give a chance to contribute. The normal and logical thing now is to pass it in parliament. Then as an ongoing process amendments should continue. Things change everyday so we need an ongoing way of living with times. We should not wait for years to make amendments. That is why we still have the old colonial public order act still haunting us. If I remember very well when we were making submissions to the current draft constitution, UPND did not take part so they should continue not to take part.
I do not know which Zambian people HH keeps referring to because last time I checked Zambians voted for PF. That is why PF is the ruling party.
Oooooooooh this man…this man ….this man. Zambians this man means no good for you open your eyes this man is something else.
Only those leaving in tribal caves are scared of HH.The constitution is a supreme document so it does not require to tribalised.lets be open minded and do justice to the constitution once for all.
Today, I am not proud to belong to UPND because now I can see that HH does not mean well at all. Why must we as a party continue to use the failed process to campaign? Amending the Constitution was going to help us as a party than having the 1996 Constitution but I don’t know why my President is becoming blind to reality. No wonder they keep accusing us of wanting to fail the process and this thing will soon be viewed in terms of tribe. HH my leader, please think again. That Grand Coalition is misleading you and it has no political clout to unseat the PF. Do what is right for Zambia mwanangu!
The man needs a serious haircut to think straight.
It is funny how Edgar Lungu has played the opposition. Edgar Lungu knew tha the UPND is a signed up member of the Grand Coalition. The Grand Coalition is a funded by NGOs who expect a new constitution by means of referendum and referendum only. This is tricky because the PF will accuse the UPND of shooting down the entire constitution and will state that the UPND does not want 50+1, a running mate etc. Automatically, the UPND with this stance cannot campaign on the constitution for 2016. Facts are that a referendum cannot achieve the required 50+1 for the constitution to go through however you look at it because more than 70% of the electorate is not educated and has not read the provisions of the document.
Hh plz do not decompagn yourself by shooting down the bill…! I will not vote for u…!
HH can’t lead Zambia.For him it’s about fighting 4 his tribe to go to state house.He can’t rule Zambia.Even his supporters are so selfish and they only think about power.Noo noo this party can’t form govt.Please Mr.President EL make sure the kwacha doesn’t depreciate further.U’ve a big chance to win 2016 if the kwacha is stabilized.HH is working with Indians to hike the prices of all commodities and this fake NGO called grand coalition or Grand Collusion.These Asians communities and Grand coalition can’t be trusted jst like HH. It’s expensive to go for a referendum.America just amend the same constitutions .It’s cheaper in that way
Reading most comments above just goes to confirm what honourable John Phiri (Dr), minister of education, told a visiting Germany delegation. OUR EDUCATION IS PATHETIC.
ZRA must become very firm also on the ba Mwenye because they are very good at forming cartels but pay peanuts to the Treasury. In January 2015 bye elections, they grouped and supported UPND not knowing that it is the PF Government which has helped them remain in business. Even the fake and abnormal prices that we have experienced in the last few months, its the collusion of mwenyes and the opposition UPND. So deal with them very firmly and let them know who is in charge.
These mwenyes dont misbehave in their country but should they hear in Zambia? Its time we started to be serious and protect our consumers and the people who voted us (PF) in power. To mwenyes, what matters only is money and nothing else, so ZRA be serious on this issue.
As usual HH looked at the where the votes may lie before he issued the statement. Wrong again HH, the votes do not lie with Grand Coalition!
As for the UPND MPs, are you going to allow a person who does not understand parliament to (mis)lead you? You guys have a national duty to get this done and dusted today. You cannot afford to repeat that dishonourable act that you did in 2011 after reaping from NCC! Your last chance to redeem yourselves is this afternoon.
And if you boycott please do not sign for the allowances today, it’s called ……ft!
The way I see it, HH and UPND are standing between the devil and the deep blue sea. If UPND members vote against the draft constitutional bill and it fails to go through, PF can use this to decampaign the UPND that their party sabotaged the bill. On the other and, if the bill goes through despite their UPND’s opposition, UPND will still be stigmatized for having attempted to sabotage what is generally perceived to be a progressive constitution. UPND is in a no-win situation on this one.
I don’t find it funny that HH has to oppose everything that the PF does. The draft constitution is a great document that all well-meaning Zambians should support. I bet if the PF told HH that he’s handsome, he would refuse and even threaten to sue them.
ICHILEMA’s thinking is childish how can he say the parliament is a wrong platform for constitution making process? when even the grade nine child will tell u the functions of the parliament . please am appealing to politicians to stop engaging Zambians in their selfish ambitions at the expense of saying Zambians this or that when innocent Zambians don’t even support what they are saying. what a shame!
So once again hh and his upnd have no direction?!
I think Mr HH is addicted to disagreements and I presume he can disagree that his name is Hakainde Hichilema if he was asked by a PF member. How can he think that a normal human being will believe that only what he says is right and always right while others are always wrong. Only Jesus Christ is known for that perfection. My vote cannot go to such a person. I will vote for someone else like Nevers Mumba who sometimes agree with others that’s normal.
Zambians – this is the time to see through HH as an individual only well bent to become a Zambian president but has complete disregard of what Zambians want. The PF govt has included every clause apart from a few contentious ones and he wants to oppose that? If you live in the diaspora, make note the PF has recommended dual citizenship clause and by Christmas we can have that voted in. But HH through his self centredness wants to oppose this well meaning constitution making process. Time to DE-campain this selfish individual that wants nothing good for the country unless it benefits him.