Civil Society calls for Constitution review governing Act
Innocent Selatlhwa | Tuesday April 23, 2024 09:34
They have adopted elements of the people-driven Constitution review process from the BOFEPUSU-BFTU Position Paper on Constitutional Review. “In modern constitutional formulation or review processes, it is considered best practice to ensure genuine participation of the people.
This entails, amongst others, engaging the public in determining the terms of reference, duration of the process, and the composition of the Constitutional Review Commission. “While we are aware that many countries have chosen different pathways to consult the people in a constitutional review process, it is our submission that the road map proposed is the most democratic, and as such, the most to our circumstances as a democratic country,” they stated.
According to the civic society, the process must be mapped out and contain within it the following key aspects: Procedures for the Determination, development and setting up of the steering body of the constitutional reform process; Procedures for Designing the methodology and terms of reference; Procedures for Setting out the time frames; Provisions for Stakeholder conference(s); Procedure for Designing broad principles that will inform the new Constitution; Provisions for Public consultations and participation mechanisms; Procedures for Drafting the Constitution (Amendment) Bill; Provisions for Debate and discussion on the Constitution (Amendment) Bill; Procedures for the Finalisation of draft Constitution (Amendment) Bill; and Procedure for the creation of a Referendum or Certification for validation by the people.
To address this, they propose that an Act of Parliament be passed to govern the entire process capturing some or all of the above aspects in the following way: The institutional setup should include the Constitutional Review Commission (CRC), the Constituency Forums, the National Constitutional Conference (Stakeholders Conference), the Parliament and the referendum According to BOCONGO, the CRC should be the primary organ of review consisting of a number to be determined at a Stakeholders Conference. “The Commissioners should be agreed to at a Stakeholders Conference and thereafter appointed by the President in accordance with the resolution of the Stakeholders Conference that shall be binding on the President,” they state.
The first stage would be civic education: preparing the people for participation followed by research, studies and seminars, defining the issues.
This will be followed by public consultations, listening to the people before writing the report and preparing the draft Bill. Debating the commissioner’s report and recommendations will then follow. A Constituency Forum would in their view ensure that every constituency debate, discuss, collect and collate the views of members of the public. “The forums will fall under the supervision of the Commission.
The composition of each forum should be determined by the people of each constituency and their political and other leaders,” they state. The National Constitutional Conference should be the most representative body assembled to agree on the Constitution according to the civic society body. “It shall consist of such number of delegates as may be agreed at the Stakeholders Conference, or as may be prescribed by law. The delegates should be drawn from the National Assembly, District Councils, political parties, members of civil society and experts (who shall not have the right to vote),” they add.
They also want the law to make it clear that Members of Parliament have no authority to override the views of the people obtained at a referendum. The civic body also wants a Referendum where the draft constitution shall be submitted to the people for approval, amendment, or rejection.