'Shamelist' lands Oasis Forum in hot water

A parliamentary committee has found that the Oasis Forum, an influential civil society movement comprising church bodies and the Law Association of Zambia, has a case to answer regarding adverts denouncing MPs who voted against a bill backed by the forum. The MPs had voted against the establishment of a constituent assembly to pass a new constitution for the country. On Friday the committee on parliamentary privileges sent a letter to the forum's chairman, the Reverend Japhet Ndhlovu, stating that the forum had "infringed" the rights of MPs when it published the so-called 'shamelist' advert, displaying the names and photographs of the 65 parliamentarians who had voted against the bill. The newspaper advert urged Zambians to vote the MPs out of office, as they had voted against "the will of the people" by rejecting a constituent assembly. Oasis Forum chairman Ndhlovu said the letter from the parliamentary committee was meant to "intimidate us into lessening the pressure on them", but insisted that the forum "won't stop until the will of the people prevails". Ndhlovu said parliament's reaction was an indication that the campaign against the MPs was working, "otherwise they would have remained silent". The parliamentary committee demanded that both the Oasis Forum and local daily newspaper The Post, which ran the advert, respond in writing to the charge of infringing parliamentary privilege by the end of this week. In an editorial The Post pondered what parliament's reaction would have been had the advert praised the MPs for a job well done. In November, the Oasis Forum tabled a private member's motion in parliament through an opposition MP, Given Lubinda, proposing legislation to ensure that Zambia's fourth constitution would be enacted by a constituent assembly as well as the constitution review commission (CRC). The CRC has presented its final draft constitution to President Levy Mwanawasa, with recommendations that the new constitution be adopted by a constituent assembly, and that the next president of Zambia should win more than 50 percent of the vote. Mwanawasa was sworn in as president after carrying less than 28 percent of the ballot. The president has repeatedly said there was not enough money and time for a new consitution to pass through a constituent asssembly before this year's elections, but the Oasis Forum remains undaunted. "We have heard all the excuses the government has come up with," Ndhlovu said, "but we are resolved that the constitution will be ready before the elections, whether President Mwanawasa likes it or not, because that's the will of the people."