WE don’t hate President Edgar Lungu, we are just saying sir according to the Constitution you are not eligible to stand in 2021, says Bob Sichinga.
The former commerce minister says most Zambians feel betrayed by the current PF under President Lungu, as it is not the party that the late Michael Sata and others founded.
Speaking on Joy FM’s ‘The Platform’ programme yesterday, Sichinga said the current debate on President Lungu’s eligibility for next year’s elections was already determined by the Constitution which clearly stated that a presidential candidate could not stand if he or she had twice held office.
President Lungu was first sworn in 2015 and again in 2016, and the PF leadership has declared that he will be the party’s candidate next year.
“The Lungu camp are saying that because there is a provision later on, I think in [Article] 106…103 that if he hasn’t done three years then we don’t count the first period because he has not done three years –
that three years came about because President Sata had done three years and therefore there was only two years to run, that’s how that came about … it was to give Mr Lungu extended time. But in doing so it means that he will actually be sworn in three times,” Sichinga said.
He added that constitutional lawyer John Sangwa had every right to raise arguments against President Lungu’s eligibility.
Last Friday, the judiciary banned Sangwa from appearing before any Zambian court, claiming “a complaint of professional misconduct” made against him.
“In parliamentary terms we say there is a lacuna in the Constitution so it depends on how you interpret it. Here is Sangwa who is a constitutional lawyer, that’s what he has been teaching his students at the University of Zambia, he is saying in his interpretation this is what it says, whether you agree with him or not, it is not the reason why you should move him, put your arguments forward,” Sichinga said.
He said the likes of Kabwe Central PF member of parliament Tutwa Ngulube and others who were supporting President Lungu’s candidature were arguing primarily because they were looking at their jobs.
“They are not looking at the rights and wrongs of the things they say but how secure their jobs are; ‘this is my first term, I want to have the second term as member of parliament’. I am saying the requirements of the Constitution are different from what your expectations might be. They may be at variance but stick to the Constitution,” he said.
“When president Sata died, the cabinet was called and when we met, who was acting president at that date? It was Mr Lungu, so what does the Constitution say? It says the Vice-President. And who was the Vice-President? It was [Dr] Guy Scott. So when the matter came, the Attorney General [then Musa Mwenye] presented to us that according to the Constitution, the person who should take over now is the vice-president…Mr Lungu wanted to be the one to carry on and the question is that, is that provided for in the Constitution? The answer is no.
“Some of us said – and I was one of them, [Harry] Kalaba was one of them said – ‘stick to the Constitution because if you start looking for these
other factors you are going to be lost because if you don’t stick to the Constitution then you have no basis, the Constitution has no effect in your country’, so the vice president had to act. What I am saying is that it is the genesis of this issue we are discussing now, it came from [there]. The question we must ask ourselves is that did Mr Lungu exercise power? Did he go to elections, and did he run government from January 15 to August of 2016? Yes! But if you say no we are going to ignore it, then you must ignore everything else. As
far as I am concerned, you cannot remove Sangwa because he has made an argument but you can argue against his position and convince us.”
Sichinga further said what Sangwa said about the Constitutional Court judges not being qualified for their positions was not wrong because they truly did not meet the standard.
He said pointers to show that the judges truly were not qualified could be seen from how the bench was “fumbling” in its work.
“[Sangwa] has also said that the Constitutional Court judges are not qualified but what does the law about the constitutional office say? That’s what should guide us: do they meet that particular standard?” Sichinga asked.
“… but as far as I am aware, they don’t, so what somebody is saying is factual and he is not saying something wrong. You may not like the fact that he has said it, that’s the truth…I think the evidence is
around us, you can see how the Constitutional Court is fumbling…in my opinion, it’s very clear they don’t qualify.”
He recalled that president Kenneth Kaunda was fought by Zambians not because he was hated and he was a “gentleman” who agreed to repeal Article 4 to allow the country’s return to multiparty democracy.
Sichinga also recalled that Dr Kaunda allowed elections to be held despite still having two more years of his term to go.
He further said even late president Fredrick Chiluba was opposed over his third term bid just like people are today opposed to President Lungu’s scheme.
“We are saying the same thing to Mr Lungu, not because we hate him or anything. We are simply saying, ‘Sir, according to the Constitution, our understanding of the Constitution, interpretation of the Constitution, the modern way of looking at provisions in the Constitution, when there is a lacuna or a conflict if you want, this is the way to do it,” Sichinga said.
He described the contentious Bill 10 as a failed project because it was giving more power to the President and taking it away from Parliament and other arms of government including the judiciary.
“It is going to create problems, that’s why we are saying no. Let’s build consensus first and get agreements from citizens…you are not alone in this country. Just because you are the current ruling party does not mean that you will remain in power forever,” he said. “After all PF came into power in 2011 and I can bet my bottom dollar, PF will go and the provisions they are putting in the Constitution will come to haunt them. I said the same thing to MMD colleagues and it proved right.”
He said the constitutional process is sacrosanct for the whole country with everyone feeling protected.
“When the President takes oath of office he says, ‘I swear I will uphold the Constitution’ and I am saying let him stick to that. This thing [Bill 10] is taking away power from the Bank Of Zambia; how are you going to allow that? BOZ powers have been taken away here [Bill 10] going to the President, power of Parliament has been taken away,”he said.
And Sichinga noted that had Sata been alive, he would have not appointed some of the ministers that President Lungu has in his Cabinet. He said the present PF government was a betrayal of Sata’s legacy.
“This is how most people feel, betrayed by the PF and this PF is not Sata’s PF, I must be very clear about that…what we have now is Mr Lungu’s PF, this is not Sata’s PF. Do you honestly believe Mr Sata
would have appointed some of the ministers that are in this government, do you? Honestly, truthfully do you believe that he would have done that, people that insulted him, people that abused him, people that called him names,” said Sichinga.
Dora Siliya and Bowman Lusambo as MMD minister and die-hard youth leader respectively frequently disparaged the PF when it was in opposition, declaring PF would never form government and stating that Sata would never become president.
The duo only joined the PF following Sata’s death in October 2014 and were later appointed ministers by President Lungu.