Chief government spokesperson Dora Siliya has dismissed Lusaka Lawyer John Sangwa’s stance that President Lungu is not eligible to stand in next year’s General Elections, adding that Mr. Sangwa is wasting his name because no one is listening to him.
Ms. Siliya who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister said that Mr Sangwa’s arguments have already been dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
speaking in an interview with ZNBC News in Petauke, Ms. Siliya said Zambians are not interested in discussing the issue which the courts have already settled but only care about development in their constituencies.
Meanwhile, Eastern Province Minister and lawyer, Makebi Zulu, has wondered why Constitutional lawyer, John Sangwa SC had brought to the court of public opinion the very arguments he presented to the Constitutional Court which were thoroughly dismissed.
During the Diamond Television appearance with interviewer Costa Mwansa, Mr Zulu said the legal and constitutional arguments Sangwa had brought to the public regarding the definitions of; “terms of office”, “holding of office” and “being elected twice”, were addressed fully by the Court and referred both Sangwa and the public to the Judgement.
Mr Zulu explained that the Court established and concurred with provisions of the Constitution that in accordance with article 106, the period between January 2015 and September 2016 can not qualify as a term as it was below the period of 3 years and is NOT a term of office for the purposes of calculating term limits as defined by the Constitution.
He said the Constitution was fair and impersonal in its application and provides no favour to anyone.
And Zulu has dismissed assertions by Sangwa that the Constitutional Court, during its sitting, amended the question.
He said the Court merely depersonalized the question to bring clarity and fairness to the question as it did not matter who held the office during that period.
Sangwa defended the Law Association of Zambia(LAZ) in the matter in which Dr. Dan Pule and four others petitioned the Constitution Court to interpret Article 106 of the Constitution in relation to the eligibility of President Edgar Lungu to contest the 2021 elections at the end of his current term having previously held office for less than three years between January 2015 and September 2016.
The Constitutional Court ruled that the period from 2015 to 2016 was not a term of office for purposes of calculating term limits as it was less than the minimum 3 years required for a term to be defined as such