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Sunday, 10 April 2011 23:19
By Moses Mashalla
The Citizen Correspondent
Arusha: The Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) founder Edwin Mtei yesterday came out to support the call by the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) that the Constitutional Review Bill should be withdrawn, at least for now. He said it was improper for the government to go ahead with the bill since much of the ground work has not been done, including giving wananchi enough time to digest the matter.
He added that the bill was being hastened apparently because of pressure from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and its government, disregarding the views of other stakeholders. "This bill is being fast-tracked only to serve the interests of CCM and its government," he said in an interview with The Citizen.
Mr Mtei, who founded the opposition party in the early 1990s, said Chadema would continue to press for a new constitution for the country because of the dire need to have one. He wondered why the government has tabled the bill in Parliament so soon before the matter was even digested by all stakeholders concerned, including political parties.
"Is the rush to Bunge a scheme by the ruling party or its government to take everybody by surprise so that the new constitution is tilted towards their interests?" asked the veteran politician. He called on the government to give wananchi ample time to discuss the Bill before it is presented before Parliament, saying that Chadema wanted the matter to be discussed thoroughly by all stakeholders.
On Saturday, TLS pleaded with President Jakaya Kikwete to withdraw the Bill which was tabled before the House in Dodoma last week, in order to give the public ample time to deliberate on it.
The law society proposed at least six months for the public to discuss the crucial Bill and suggested 15 recommendations to improve it. The government early last week tabled for the first reading the Constitution Review Bill 2011, aimed mainly at completely overhauling the current Constitution which came into force in 1977.
The new Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of a Presidential Commission and other law structures to guide the process to collect views from members of the public for the review of the 1977 basic law.
By Moses Mashalla
The Citizen Correspondent
Arusha: The Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema) founder Edwin Mtei yesterday came out to support the call by the Tanganyika Law Society (TLS) that the Constitutional Review Bill should be withdrawn, at least for now. He said it was improper for the government to go ahead with the bill since much of the ground work has not been done, including giving wananchi enough time to digest the matter.
He added that the bill was being hastened apparently because of pressure from the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and its government, disregarding the views of other stakeholders. "This bill is being fast-tracked only to serve the interests of CCM and its government," he said in an interview with The Citizen.
Mr Mtei, who founded the opposition party in the early 1990s, said Chadema would continue to press for a new constitution for the country because of the dire need to have one. He wondered why the government has tabled the bill in Parliament so soon before the matter was even digested by all stakeholders concerned, including political parties.
"Is the rush to Bunge a scheme by the ruling party or its government to take everybody by surprise so that the new constitution is tilted towards their interests?" asked the veteran politician. He called on the government to give wananchi ample time to discuss the Bill before it is presented before Parliament, saying that Chadema wanted the matter to be discussed thoroughly by all stakeholders.
On Saturday, TLS pleaded with President Jakaya Kikwete to withdraw the Bill which was tabled before the House in Dodoma last week, in order to give the public ample time to deliberate on it.
The law society proposed at least six months for the public to discuss the crucial Bill and suggested 15 recommendations to improve it. The government early last week tabled for the first reading the Constitution Review Bill 2011, aimed mainly at completely overhauling the current Constitution which came into force in 1977.
The new Bill seeks to provide for the establishment of a Presidential Commission and other law structures to guide the process to collect views from members of the public for the review of the 1977 basic law.
