JK faults opposition parties on ‘assault’ of draft katiba

Constitution Review Commission chairman Judge Joseph Warioba, shares a light moment with Zanzibar First Vice President Seif Shariff Hamad as he welcomes him at Karimjee Hall in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the unveiling of the second Draft Katiba. PHOTO| EMMANUEL HERMAN 

By  Patty Magubira ,The Citizen

In Summary

The draft Bill was, however, approved in the absence of the protesting minority Opposition MPs. And President Jakaya Kikwete assented to it into law after he consulted the irate opposition leaders.

Dar es Salaam. President Jakaya Kikwete yesterday discouraged an attempt by the country’s main opposition parties’ coalition to reject the new constitution making process allegedly for favouring Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

Three opposition parties threatened to stage countrywide protests against the Constitutional Review (amendment) Bill 2013 which the National Assembly passed earlier in September.

Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema), Civic United Front (CUF) and National Convention for Construction and Reform – Mageuzi (NCCR – Mageuzi) argued that the Bill could tear the country apart.

Calling on President Jakaya Kikwete to reject it, leaders of the opposition parties said the Bill denied the people of Zanzibar equal representation in the Constituent Assembly, among others things.

Apparently threatened by their ‘people’s power’ approach, President Kikwete yesterday condemned the movement, saying it would water down all efforts so far made to ensure the new supreme law is promulgated to meet the country’s present and future needs.

“We will all become losers if Tanzanians vote against the final draft constitution during the forthcoming referendum,” he cautioned.

If rejected, he said, the process would have to start again from scratch. “I will have already stepped down and returned to my Msoga Village by then,” the President quipped shortly after the Constitution Review Commission (CRC) handed over the second draft constitution to him.

The opposition leaders accused CCM during their mammoth joint rally held at Jangwani grounds in Dar es Salaam in October of unilaterally pushing the Bill through.

“When we say involving Zanzibaris in the process, we are advocating a 50-50 representation at all stages,” Opposition Chief Whip Tundu Lissu told the rally.

Mr Lissu, who doubles as Singida East MP, accused CCM of hijacking the constitutional review process, saying the ruling party was marginalising Tanzanians to suit its own interests.

The rally came after a heated debate broke out, leading lawmakers to turn the National Assembly debating chamber in Dodoma into a boxing ring, prompting most Opposition MPs to walk out on September 5.

The draft Bill was, however, approved in the absence of the protesting minority Opposition MPs. And President Jakaya Kikwete assented to it into law after he consulted the irate opposition leaders.