PF MPs resolve to join Oasis Forum protest against Bill 7

By MUBITA KATETE

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) Members of Parliament have announced that they will join the Oasis Forum in its peaceful protest against Constitution (Amendment) Bill No. 7, insisting the proposed legislation has been overwhelmingly rejected by citizens and lacks legitimacy.
The MPs have also pledged to openly decampaign any MP whether from the ruling UPND or the opposition, who may have been bribed to support Bill 7, warning that such lawmakers will be taken on directly in their constituencies for betraying the people.
Mporokoso MP Brian Mundubile said PF lawmakers had dismissed the bill and its accompanying process long before the Constitutional Court weighed in, describing the entire undertaking as unconstitutional and devoid of the essential principles of modern constitutionalism.
He argued that transparency, accountability, dialogue and public participation all required in constitutional reforms were “completely missing” from the current process.
“As a constitutional scholar, I understand the basic principles in constitutional making.
When you look at these elements, all of them are missing from this particular process; therefore, there is no reasonable Zambian leader who today would want to back Bill 7,” Mr Mundubile said.
He stressed that PF MPs had rejected the bill even before it was tabled in Parliament and reiterated an undertaking made earlier this year to publicly oppose and politically challenge any MP who backs the legislation through “backdoor arrangements.”
Mr Mundubile warned that if Bill 7 were to pass, it would mark “the end of democracy and professionalism” in the country, describing the draft law as “an evil document made to destroy our country.”