THE SPEAKER WAS CARELESS TO BAR THE NINE PF LAWMAKERS FROM PARLIAMENT – MWAMBA
… says the Concourt decision to allow the nine PF lawmakers back into Parliament until the final determination of the petitions is good for democracy.
Lusaka … Tuesday, March 22, 2022 (Smart Eagles)
Patriotic Front Presidential hopeful Ambassador Emmanuel Mwamba says the Speaker of the National Assembly Nelly Mutti was careless in her decision to bar the nine PF members of parliament from attending Parliamentary sessions.
The Speaker of the national assembly recently suspended nine PF lawmakers from attending sessions and drawing salaries on account of election nullification by the High Court despite appealing.
And today the Concourt Judge Palan Musonda ruled that members of parliament whose seats have been nullified by the High Court but have appealed should remain in parliament.
And featuring on Millennium TV this evening, Ambassador Mwamba said it is shameful that the speaker made such a decision.
He said the law stipulates that one is Innocent until proven guilty.
” The Speaker was careless in her decision especially that she is a lawyer of many years and very qualified to be a judge. Her decision was political,” he said.
And Ambassador Mwamba said the Concourt’s decision to allow the nine PF MPs attend sessions promotes democracy.
“The PF members of parliament appealed because they felt their petitions were improperly handled and their seats unfairly nullified. The Concourt will make the final determination in these matters and we will accept the ruling,” Ambassador Mwamba said.
” The MPs have a right to exhaust the due processes of the law because it is provided for in the constitution and it is part of the judicial system. The decision is good for the young democracy and strengthens the institutions in the country,” he said.
And asked if the same decision was going to be made if the PF was in power, Ambassador Mwamba said President Hichilema was acquitted several times by the same judicial system.
” If the institutions were compromised the country would not have produced an opposition President. The same decision was going to happen even during the PF. The institutions were not compromised because President Hichilema was acquitted several times and assertions that the judicially was compromised under PF was just propaganda,,” Ambassador Mwamba said.