This page and the opposite: Delegates focus on the political and technical issues of drafting constitutions.
However, Parliament is in
most instances a creation of the constitution. That being the case, parliamentary powers and competence in relation to the constitution is limited to effecting amendments. The process for such amendment
is, however, usually circumscribed or prescribed by the constitution. This was substantiated with tangible experiences shared by the delegates during the discussion. Out of those, the 18th amendment to the constitution of Sri Lanka became a critical issue when Prof. Peiris made his comments on the rationale for this amendment to the constitution as an urgent Bill which must be passed by Parliament with a two-thirds majority.
In general, the process of
amending constitutions is more stringent than that of conventional acts of Parliament. Rather, each nation fashions its rule and procedure of constitution-making and amending in line with both its political history (bicameral versus unicameral system of Parliament) and subsisting circumstances (imperialism/ colonialism versus neo-colonialism). The important thing is that each constitution holds within or outside it, prospects of amendment. The overall challenge is that
making and amending a constitution are strategic and pre-eminently political acts. The role of Parliament is
primarily to ensure a people-centric 258 | The Parliamentarian | 2012: Issue Four
constitution. Therefore, the role of Parliament in relation to the people is best situated in the cardinal principles of inclusivity, participation, diversity, transparency, accountability, legitimacy and right to information.
Gender perspective and democracy The active participation and representation of women in politics is crucial not only to the development of their own human capabilities and their empowerment, but also in contributing to democracy as a whole. Society needs a stronger gender perspective and democracy must be gender-responsive. There is a need to create an environment whereby women may
be encouraged and supported in their efforts to have equitable access to resources and opportunities. All the delegates speaking voiced views in favour of a quota or reservation to provide parliamentary seats to the disadvantaged women of the society, to be implemented throughout Commonwealth states.
Political decisions Hon. Request Muntanga, MP, of Zambia stated that political elites dominated the constitution-making process in his country. The concept of neo-colonialism was a factor in the constitution-making process.
Consequently, Zambia has made numerous attempts to reform the