By KETRA KALUNGA
IT is shameful for opposition leaders to shoot down Bill 10 and later come back to complain about lacunas in the laws of the land, says former Justice Minister Given Lubinda.
Mr Lubinda said the ghost of Bill 10 was now haunting those who shot it down so they must be the last to complain about the current Public Order Act (POA).
Speaking on ZNBC’s Sunday interview, he said Bill 10 which they vigorously campaigned against was meant to thrash out inadequacies in the POA.
The former Kabwata Member of Parliament said despite being presented with what was considered a good law, the opposition parties still shot it down.
He said because of their political gymnastics, the opposition parties thought they would win some political favour from Zambians by shooting down Bill 10.
“We presented to parliament the repeal and replaced the Public Order Act, in that bill, what we were trying to do was to relax some of the restrictions.
“For instance, in the Public Order Amendment Bill, we stated very clearly that political parties if they are holding indoor meetings of an administrative nature, they didn’t have to inform the police but they shot it down,” he said
Mr Lubinda the opposition parties shot themselves in the foot and as such, they should be the last to complain.
The former Justice Minister said the current POA entails that people must notify the police before they have public meetings and if they do not abide by the law, the police would act.
