"You are not going to have an undemocratic party producing democratic politicians. If the party is not democratic, does not hold primaries or allow anyone to contest for president, then that is the beginning of autocracy."
Professor Prempeh says former Zambian president Frederick Chiluba appointed nearly half of the legislature to government posts.
Tom Ginsburg is professor of international law at the University of Chicago Law School and professor of political science. He and Professor Prempeh support the introduction of constitutional courts, like the one in South Africa. It can review government policy and mandate changes if the court finds violations of the constitution.
The French connection
Ginsburg said that in francophone Africa, there are constitutional courts that can hear cases – and suggest amendments -- brought to them by the president, deputies and other political groups. Most of those cases judge the legality of laws passed by parliament, but only before they’ve been signed.
He said the courts are based on an idea introduced by a well-known French leader from the 1960s who stood for a strong executive power over the legislature.
"It’s really a mechanism for the political system to work out problems within legislation before it becomes law," said Ginsburg. "It was originally designed by former president Charles De Gaulle to check the French parliament and has fit well in political culture of francophone West Africa, in which strong men can use the constitutional court to prevent parliament from becoming too independent."
最新
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25
2013-11-25