By GRACE CHAILE LESOETSA
lawyer John Sangwa has petitioned the Constitutional Court to compel the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to amend the affidavit for Presidential candidate/Running mate by including a paragraph which says “I have not twice held office as President.”
Mr Sangwa stated that the said paragraph will comply with Article 106 (3) of the Constitution.
Article 106 (3) states: A person who has twice held office as President is not eligible for election as President.
However, Article 106 (6) (3) (a and b) explains that to have served a full term as President, at least three years should remain before the date of the next general election and that if less than three years still remains at the date on which the President assumed office, he will not be deemed to have served a term.
Effectively the constitution envisages a situation where a President may serve for 13 years.
The clauses state that the Vice-President or the President-elect shall serve for the unexpired term of office and be deemed, for the purposes of clause (3): (a) to have served a full term as President if, at the date on which the President assumed office, at least three years remain before the date of the next general election.
(b) not to have served a term of office as President if, at the date on which the President assumed office, less than three years remain before the date of the next general election.
Mr Sangwa wants to compel the Constitutional Court to reconsider Article 106 (3) and ignore the other clauses on which basis the court earlier found President Edgar Lungu eligible to stand.
He has cited ECZ as the respondent in the petition.
According to a petition filed yesterday, Mr Sangwa stated that after the amendment of the Constitution on January 5, 2016, ECZ did prescribe a number of documents for use during the election which included the affidavit of Presidential candidate /Running mate.
He said that on April 30, this year he attended ECZ’s Manger of Elections and the purpose of the meeting was to confirm whether there has been any amendment to the said affidavit for purpose of the nomination of the Presidential candidates for the August 12, 2021 elections.
“The petitioner was informed that the substance of the said affidavit has not changed. Paragraphs 1-8 of the prescribed affidavit satisfy the provisions of Article 100(1) of the Constitution, while paragraph 9 of the affidavit fulfils Article 100 (2) of the Constitution,” the petition reads.
“In addition to Article 100 of the Constitution, Article 106 (3) of the Constitution provides another instance where one may be disqualified from nomination as Presidential candidate,” he stated.
Mr Sangwa argued that the current version of the Affidavit for Presidential Candidate/Running mate does not mandate Presidential candidates to address what is provided in Article 106 (3) of the Constitution.
