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Viewing cable 07LUSAKA510, OASIS FORUM REIGNITES CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM DEBATE

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07LUSAKA510 2007-04-27 09:13 2011-08-30 01:44 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Lusaka
VZCZCXRO9133
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHLS #0510/01 1170913
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270913Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY LUSAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4324
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 LUSAKA 000510 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PREL PGOV PHUM ZA
SUBJECT: OASIS FORUM REIGNITES CONSTITUTIONAL REFORM DEBATE 
 
REF: A. LUSAKA 06 120 
 
     B. LUSAKA 05 1537 
 
1. (SBU) Summary: Zambia's civil-society umbrella group, the 
Oasis Forum, recently declared a "constitutional struggle" 
and introduced a 10-step, 71-week, "roadmap" to a new 
constitution for Zambia.  In a letter that was published in 
the media, President Mwanawasa provided a legal explanation 
of why the Oasis Forum plan is unconstitutional and said that 
the GRZ would implement its own roadmap to constitutional 
reform.  Oasis Forum leaders believe that the President's 
legal arguments are without merit and that the GRZ plan, 
which will take approximately five years to complete, is 
unnecessarily expensive and complicated.  The Oasis Forum is 
planning a campaign of public protests and inside political 
"arm twisting" to force the GRZ and ruling Movement for 
Multi-party Democracy (MMD) politicians to engage on the 
constitutional reform issue in good faith. End Summary. 
 
Oasis Forum Reignites Constitutional Debate 
------------------------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU) The Oasis Forum recently reinvigorated the issue of 
constitutional reform in Zambia when it declared a 
"constitutional struggle" and introduced a ten-step "roadmap" 
that will lead to the adoption of a new constitution.  The 
Oasis Forum, which is comprised of five leading church groups 
and civil society organizations, estimated that it would take 
71 weeks to complete the steps in the roadmap, at a cost of 
approximately 25 billion kwacha (USD six million).  If begun 
in July, the Oasis Forum plan could give Zambia a new 
constitution by the end of 2008. 
 
3. (SBU) The Oasis Forum plan calls for Parliament to begin 
the constitutional reform process by enacting a bill to 
establish a Constituent Assembly.  Local councilors would 
then be nominated to serve as delegates to the Constituent 
Assembly and would draft a new constitution, using the 
December 2005 Constitution Review Commission's (CRC) 
recommendations as a starting point (Ref A).  After the 
Constituent Assembly drafts and approves a new constitution, 
the President will call for a national referendum to allow 
voters to consider and approve the document.  Assuming that 
voters approve, the National Assembly will then formally 
enact the new constitution, which will be assented to by the 
President. 
 
President: Constitutional Reform Must Be Constitutional 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
4. (SBU) In a letter published as a paid advertisement in the 
state-controlled media as well as the independent Post 
newspaper, President Mwanawasa said that the GRZ would move 
forward with constitutional reform but would not follow the 
Oasis Forum plan, which violates Zambia's existing 
constitution.  The President based his position on 
constitutional arguments that the government put forward more 
than a year ago (Ref A).  Specifically, the President argued 
that because Article 62 provides that legislative authority 
is vested exclusively in Parliament, it would be 
unconstitutional to delegate the legislative function to a 
Constituent Assembly. 
 
5. (SBU) Furthermore, the President continued, any 
constituent assembly bill would have to comply with the 
provisions of Article 79.  Article 79 requires a national 
referendum to approve "any bill for the alteration of Part 
III of this Constitution or of this Article..."  Because the 
Constituent Assembly would presumably alter Part III of the 
existing constitution, which relates to the protection of the 
fundamental rights and freedoms of the individual, Article 79 
applies.  "If your intention implicitly is to introduce a 
Constituent Assembly with legally binding effect, as 
suggested by the Mung'omba Constitution Review Commission 
then Articles 62 and 79 must be complied with" the President 
wrote.  He concluded that "a possible meeting between us (to 
discuss the constitutional issue) would serve no useful 
purpose." 
 
GRZ "Roadmap" to New Constitution 
--------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) To address the constitutional concerns raised by the 
President - legitimate or not - the GRZ introduced its own 
"roadmap" to a new constitution in December 2006.  The 
government's roadmap is considerably more complex than the 
Oasis Forum's, providing for a 14-step process to adopt a new 
constitution that would take approximately 300 weeks to 
complete.  In addition to being much more time-consuming than 
the Oasis Forum plan, the government's roadmap would also be 
much more expensive. 
 
 
LUSAKA 00000510  002 OF 003 
 
 
7.  (SBU) Among other costly and time-consuming steps, the 
GRZ plan calls for a census to determine the number of voters 
eligible to vote in a national referendum to amend Article 
79.  Following the referendum to amend Article 79, the plan 
suggests that a second referendum may be necessary to adopt 
the final constitution recommended by the Constituent 
Assembly.  The roadmap also requires national elections to 
determine delegates who will represent Zambia's 150 
constituencies in the Constituent Assembly.  Although post 
has not seen a budget for the GRZ roadmap, the cost of 
conducting a census, a national referendum (or two), and a 
national election, in addition to the costs of convening 
delegates for six months (the government's timeframe), would 
be daunting, if not insurmountable. 
 
Oasis Forum Cynical 
------------------- 
 
8. (SBU) Oasis Forum leaders believe that the GRZ does not 
want a new constitution and is looking for legal and 
financial hurdles that would make it difficult, if not 
impossible, to achieve reform prior to the 2011 national 
elections.  In making the case that the President is less 
than sincere, Catholic Center for Justice Development and 
Peace (CCJDP) Director Samuel Mulafulafu, noted to Poloff 
that government has been promising movement on a new 
constitution for several years.  The Constitution Review 
Commission began taking comments on new constitution in 2003 
and published an 800-plus page report at the end of 2005. 
Since that time the GRZ has only stalled, said Mulafulafu. 
"They do not want a new constitution, for whatever reason," 
he concluded. 
 
9. (SBU) The Oasis Forum responded to the President's legal 
and constitutional arguments in an April 24 letter that was 
released to the public.  Accusing the President of having 
"hijacked the constitution-making process," the letter argued 
that Parliament has the authority to enact a constituent 
assembly bill and should do so immediately.  Article 79 
applies to alterations or amendments of the existing 
constitution; it does not apply to the process of drafting 
and adopting an entirely new constitution.  In essence, 
because the existing constitution "cannot dictate its own 
demise and replacement," Article 79 cannot require a 
referendum to empower a Constituent Assembly.  The Oasis 
Forum also dismissed the President's position that a census 
would be required to determine the number of voters eligible 
to vote in a referendum, noting that results from the 2000 
census are valid until 2010.  Concluding that the 
constitutional issue must be decided by the people, the 
letter rejected suggestions that the Oasis Forum seek a High 
Court opinion regarding the President's arguments. 
 
Pressure Campaign Planned 
------------------------- 
 
10. (SBU) The Oasis Forum is planning a campaign of public 
protests and inside "political arm twisting" when Parliament 
reconvenes in June, Mulafulafu said.  The goal of the 
campaign will be to pressure the government into introducing 
a constituent assembly bill in Parliament.  Opposition 
Members of Parliament (MPs), as well as a few members of the 
ruling MMD, have already voiced support for a constituent 
assembly bill, Mulafulafu said, but the GRZ must introduce 
the bill if it is to have a chance of passing.  Mulafulafu 
recalled that an opposition MP introduced a constituent 
assembly bill in Parliament in November 2005 but the bill did 
not get far (Ref B). 
 
11. (SBU) The government must also introduce the constituent 
assembly bill soon.  The last push to reform the constitution 
in late 2005 failed partly because the issue was lost in the 
2006 presidential and parliamentary campaign (Ref B).  The 
Oasis Form believes that it must act soon so that a new 
constitution can be in place before candidates begin to 
campaign for the 2011 presidential and parliamentary 
elections.  Once the campaign season gets underway, it will 
be much more difficult to draft and adopt a new constitution, 
Mulafulafu said. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
12. (SBU) The Oasis Forum is best known for its role in 
organizing wide-spread but peaceful protests that ultimately 
forced former President Chiluba to abandon a bid for a third 
term in 2001.  It may be more difficult to mount a similarly 
effective campaign in support of constitutional reform, 
however.  Previous attempts by the Oasis Forum to pressure 
the GRZ to act have not gone far, perhaps because the issue 
of the constitution does not stir the public in the way the 
third term issue did.  The President is under no legal 
 
LUSAKA 00000510  003 OF 003 
 
 
obligation to establish a Constituent Assembly and is 
unlikely to do so absent significant public and political 
pressure.  Whether the Oasis Forum is up to the task will be 
more apparent when Parliament reconvenes in June. 
MARTINEZ