Mr Mberi said yesterday told the Daily Nation in a statement that the question on whether President Lun- gu could defend his seat had been ably handled by the con- stitutional court.
“We wish to advise those UPND secret sympathizers wishing our President not to stand that they are wasting their time. Let them just go flat out to campaign for a certain presidential candidate who has lost for five times in a row and headed to lose for the six time.
“We further wish to warn all the opponents of Presi- dent Lungu that we will wage a protracted political fight and ensure that President Lungu remains in State House be- cause that is where he rightly belongs until 2026,” Mr Mberi said.
He said when the matter was taken to court, although ordinarily, the applicants were seeking determination of the question of eligibility, the Constitutional Court stated that it did not encourage the trend of targeting an individual.
Mr Mberi said it was at that time that the question was re- framed to deal with the Office of the President as opposed to President Lungu’s case.
“There were various is- sues which were raised in the originating notice of motion. Through State Counsel John Sangwa, Law Association of Zambia argued that the applicants had no locus standi in the matter because they would not be affected by the outcome of the matter.
“The Court responded by stating that every citizen has a right to have basic under- standing of the constitution and this was through seeking an authoritative interpretation before the Constitution- al Court. The Court held that the applicants had sufficient standing in the matter,” he said.
The activist observed that the other issue which was argued was to whether the matter was prematurely before the court as opposed to it be- ing brought within seven days after the filing of the nominations.
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