PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu should learn from what happens to leaders in other countries who resist leaving office after their tenure is over, says Socialist Party Copperbelt spokesperson Joseph Kangwa.
He says it is clear from the Constitution of Zambia that President Lungu cannot be sworn in a third time, and he is hence ineligible to stand for elections next August.
In a statement, Kangwa said President Lungu should respect the spirit under which the Constitution was written.
“I have been following the debates about the eligibility of President Edgar Chagwa Lungu to stand in the 2021 elections with keen interest, and I have listened to both parties. Mr Lungu’s case should be beyond politics and should be about principles and respect for the country’s Constitution, the basic law of the land. It should be about respect and honour for our freedom fighters who struggled and lost their lives for the democracy which the country’s powers-that-be are trying to destroy,” Kangwa stated. “I am not a judge or a lawyer, I am just a layperson. It is with a correct appreciation of the 1996 Constitution and 2016 Amended Constitution, however, that we should ascertain which Constitution should be used to determine President Lungu’s eligibility to run in 2021. It is also important to know which Constitution has been followed when Mr Lungu served the presidency from 2015 to 2016, and what it does state about the tenure of the country’s president.”
Kangwa stated that the 2016 Amendment Constitution has Article 106 sub 6(a) and 6(b) that makes a qualification of a term of clause (3) 106, that was enacted in 2016 when President Lungu was already elected and serving his first term as President.
“In short, we cannot use Article 106 of the 2016 Amended Constitution to determine his first term as President. In this case, Article 35 clause (2) of the 1996 Constitution qualifies to be referred to in determining President Lungu’s first term and eligibility for the 2021 elections,” he stated. “According to the said provision of the 1996 Constitution, Mr Lungu has already served his first term as President from 2015 to 2016 and he is just finishing his second term. This makes him ineligible to stand for election in 2021 according to Article 106 clause (3) of the current Constitution, period!”
Kangwa stated that it was important for President Lungu and Patriotic Front leaders to respect the Constitution for the sake of Zambians’ freedom and unity and the strength of the country’s democracy.
“President Lungu should know that no one is above the law and he should respect the spirit under which the Constitution was written,” stated Kangwa. “He should learn from what happens to leaders in other countries who resist leaving the office after their tenure is over: they discredit themselves and are booed and booted out by their very own people – through elections or other means! The people have the power!”