CONSTITUTIONAL lawyer John Sangwa has advised President Edgar Lungu to accept the reality that he will not stand in next year’s elections due to the fall of Bill 10 which he was banking on.
Last Thursday, the Constitution (Amendment) Bill No. 10 of 2019 fell away in the National Assembly after failing to meet the required two thirds majority support from all members of parliament.
Commonly referred to as Bill 10, the document became unpopular among most citizens because of the dictatorial clauses it contained.
Commenting on the fall of the bill, Sangwa, a State Counsel, said the people of Zambia were the final winners.
“I think we should be proud of ourselves; it’s a good day for Zambia. And also, PF also respected the rules of the game. My additional plea to President Lungu is to cement, to create another milestone and leave a better legacy for himself – it is to accept the fact that he does not qualify to stand for 2021. He must respect the Constitution and accept the fact that he doesn’t qualify to stand,” he said in an interview. “The same way he has accepted and respected the outcome of the legislative process, he must also respect the fact that he does not qualify to stand for 2021, having already occupied the office of President twice. That will be his greatest legacy for the people of Zambia. I think we’ll remember him for that.”
Sangwa, however, asked President Lungu to also be proud of himself for contributing to the democratic process in 2016.
President Lungu’s administration amended the 1996 Constitution and brought in, among other changes, the 50 per cent plus one threshold for a winning presidential candidate.
“So, it is a great day for Zambia. And I think President Lungu should also be proud of himself because he had put in place, in 2016, a Constitution, which was not tailored to serve his interests because it defied his own wishes. So the system is not there to rubberstamp his wishes. Although he’s the architect of the Constitution as amended in 2016, it defied him,” said Sangwa. “The various parts of the various institutions and processes of the Constitution came into play and acquitted themselves very well. So, it is a great day, it is a milestone in our democratic experiment that we must be proud of. So, really at the end of the day, I would say there’s no winner, there’s no loser. At the end of the day what it shows is that a multiparty system of governing Zambia is not a myth, it’s actually a reality.”