New standoff on Katiba as Migiro presents budget

                                    

 

“These are minor amendments that do not need Parliament’s approval…everything has been conducted within the framework of the laws of this country” DR ASHA-ROSE MIGIRO, MINISTER FOR CONSTITUTIONAL AND LEGAL AFFAIRS   

By Samuel Kamndaya,The Citizen Reporter

In Summary

• Requesting the National Assembly to approve a Sh223.869 billion budget for her ministry’s 2015/2016 financial year, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs minister Dr Asha-Rose Migiro said the government will, during the year, coordinate the process of getting Tanzania a new Constitution.

Dodoma. The differences between the government and the opposition bench over the Proposed Constitution became evident in Parliament yesterday as the former stuck to its guns, saying the process was still on.

Requesting the National Assembly to approve a Sh223.869 billion budget for her ministry’s 2015/2016 financial year, the Constitutional and Legal Affairs minister Dr Asha-Rose Migiro said the government will, during the year, coordinate the process of getting Tanzania a new Constitution.

“In the same manner, my ministry will coordinate the process of establishing a committee that will manage the issues to be identified during the interim period,” said Dr Migiro, the former United Nations deputy secretary general.

She said so far, the process has been conducted fairly and within the framework of laws and regulations governing the conduct of referenda.

According to Dr Migiro, the laws governing the conduct of referenda empowers the President to instruct the National Electoral Commission (NEC) to call for a referendum.

With regard to the timing, she said the laws empower the ministries responsible for the conduct of elections – which in this case is the Prime Minister of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Second Vice President of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar – to amend it without necessarily having to seek the Parliament’s approval.

“These are minor amendments that do not need Parliament’s approval…everything has been conducted within the framework of the laws of this country…currently, we are updating the voters’ register and upon completion, a referendum will be held,” Dr Migiro said.

This was in response to the spokesperson of the official opposition bench in Parliament, Mr Tundu Lissu who said even if the NEC completes updating the voters’ register, we cannot hold the referendum without amending the 2013 Referendum Act.

“The problem is that the Act sets out a difficult precedence within which a referendum can be held…it (the Act) states that any procedure within the referendum process cannot be postponed,” said Mr Lissu, the Singida East Member of Parliament.

This, he said, is because the Act stipulates that within 14 days after the President receives the Proposed Constitution and after consultations with the President of Zanzibar, he is required to order – through the Government Gazette – the NEC to conduct a referendum over the Proposed Constitution.

He said the order should specify the campaign time and specify on the day when the referendum will be held. “In line with Section 4 of the Referendum Act 2013, President Jakaya Kikwete has already ordered the day when the referendum must be held (in reference to the April 30, 2015 which was postponed) and he does not have the powers to dismiss his earlier order or postpone the referendum,” he said.