Parliament To Resume Sitting Today

The National Assembly will resume sitting on Tuesday for the 4th session of the 12th parliament. The session was interrupted on 18th March as the global Covid-19 pandemic reached Zambia. 

The clerk of the National Assembly, Mrs Cecilia Mbewe, announced that parliament would resume sitting on Tuesday 9th June at 14:30.

In light of the ongoing public health crisis caused by Covid-19, Mrs Mbewe has said that visitors will not be admitted to the National Assembly’s public galleries until further notice.

“This is a precautionary measure aimed at contributing to the national and global efforts to contain the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19),” she said.

Constitution Amendment Bill number 10 - first proposed in 2019 - is expected to be at the top of the government’s agenda. The bill reached its second reading before parliament was adjourned, with opposition UPND members notably walking out of the chamber in protest agains the Bill’s proposed amendments to the constitution. 

The bill has been the subject of heated controversy in Zambia, with critics claiming it strengthens the existing powers of the president and his executive, to the detriment of Zambia’s democracy. 

Law Society of Zambia President Eddie Mwitwa has claimed that “If Bill 10 becomes law, there is a great danger that our democracy will be weakened, our separation of powers will be weakened, and then, there will be Executive powers that will be enhanced, which will cause an imbalance in the way the governance system is supposed to be”. 

The government has defended the proposed measures on the basis that they address gaps in Zambia’s existing constitution. The bill needs a two-thirds majority in the National Assembly to pass - equivalent to 111 of the 167 MPs. The PF government has just 80 elected MPs and eight nominated MPs.