Civil society to continue agitation over constitution

Zambian civil society and opposition parties are to persist with efforts to pressure the authorities to enact a new constitution before elections in 2006, despite the government's reported willingness to renew talks. "We welcome the government's decision to set aside its 'roadmap' and to hold fresh dialogue. We have a two-pronged approach to the issue - while we will continue to dialogue with the government, our foot soldiers will continue to hold demonstrations and campaigns around the country," said Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu, spokesman of the NGO coalition Oasis Forum. Civil society and opposition groups are to hold countrywide protests on Thursday. The organisations have held demonstrations around the country in the past two weeks, with 68 people arrested in the capital Lusaka on 20 December after the police declared their protest illegal. A government spokesperson has reportedly announced that the authorities were setting aside their timetable for the country's constitutional review process, which would have culminated in a new constitution in 2008, and re-opening dialogue. Opposition United Party for National Development spokesman Patrick Chisanga's response was a bit sceptical. "Unless they [the Zambian government] do not announce dates for the new dialogue, we do not know if it is mere politicking. If they are seriously setting aside the roadmap and starting fresh dialogue then it is a welcome decision," he told IRIN. Zambia's new constitution is currently being drafted by a commission appointed in 2003 by President Levy Mwanawasa. The NGOs and opposition both want the constitutional review to be undertaken by a more representative Constituent Assembly (CA), rather than the current Constitutional Review Commission (CRC). Their rejection of the process is largely due to concerns that most of the CRC commissioners are presidential appointees, and that the president has the power to reject the commission's recommendations. Mwanawasa's government has repeatedly in the past dismissed the proposed CA as overly "expensive, cumbersome, and lacking the legitimacy" that the government enjoys by virtue of being elected.