Sunday, 06 November 2011 21:49
By Ludger Kasumuni
The Citizen Reporter
Representatives of faith based organisations (FBOs) have castigated various provisions in the new Constitutional Review Bill which is set to be tabled when Parliament sessions start tomorrow in Dodoma.
Representatives of the FBOs who met last week under the umbrella of the Inter Religious Council for Peace Tanzania (IRCPT), resolved at the meeting that the Bill had a number of weaknesses that required amendments before tabling in the House.
They warned that if the Bill was adopted as it is, there was a danger that the process of writing the new Constitution would not be inclusive. The meeting noted that past modalities of the constitution-making process would be replicated to form a document composed of patches.
They said there were several controversial areas to be cleared, citing the case of the voting criteria which says that if either side of the Union does not vote by 50 per cent then the whole mission of framing the new constitution is halted.
Another controversial issue is the complexity in harmonization of the Zanzibar and Union constitutions and the national consensus on Union matters, because already the Isles document has clauses which contradict some articles of the Mainland laws such as the existence of Zanzibar Constitutional Court and powers of the High Court.
The new constitution must have a provision for reducing presidential powers, re-examine integrity and independence of judiciary as well as powers of Parliament in making laws and re-examine religious interests, said the FBOs representatives.When re-examining presidential powers, there is a need to demarcate the powers of the president as head of the Executive and State, because there are no clearly defined powers of appointing Cabinet members.
Source: http://thecitizen.co.tz/news/4-national-news/16860-clerics-criticise-bill-on-review-of-laws.html