State House has maintained that there is no power vacuum in the country because President-Elect Edgar Lungu is still in office.
Speaking at a press briefing in Lusaka today Special Assistant to the President for Press and Public Relations Amos Chanda said there is no power vacuum, because the incumbent must hand over instruments of power to the President-elect.
Mr. Chanda said President Lungu will continue discharging his duties as the incumbent leader, saying those saying there is a power vacuum have been misled.
He said there has never been any power vacuum created as a result of elections in the country whether there is petition or not.
Mr Chanda explained that all the Permanent Secretaries, the entire civil service and all government functions are operating smoothly.
And Mr. Chanda charged that all government projects are progressing well and all contracts that were granted before the elections are operational.
He further said that President Lungu has continued having high level engagements to encourage the nation maintain peace and stability and ensure that the nation is developed.
He revealed that so far the President has received over eight state visit invitations from different Heads of State.
Mr. Chanda said soon after the inauguration the president is expected to honour invitations, to China, Israel, and Kenya.
Meanwhile Mr. Chanda said the President is disappointed that some sections of the society have continued issuing statements that undermine the highest office.
He said the president has also appealed to members of the public to desist from commenting on cases that are in the court.
Mr. Chanda said the Head of State has called on Zambians to uphold peace and order by abiding by the law of the land.
hope HH and team baunfwa
No power vacuum because the incumbent must hand over instruments of power to the President-elect.
Simples!!!
Absolutely! I hope the most bitter man in Zambia, HH will now understand this.
Yes, but the Constitution also says that where there is a petition the President-Elect is not sworn-in and the Speaker takes over for the duration of the petition.
@1.3 Mop You must be an imbecile. How many times are we going to tell you that there is no such provision in the constitution as speaker taking over during first petition. Go to school.
@Pompi, rather than resorting to insults visit the Parliament of Zambia website and read the constitution for yourself. I don’t just comment on things without verifying information on my own.
@ Pompwe: You are just a Mother Fuc.king PF Cadre!! Ar.se.whore!
Simples!!!
No power vacuum? You must be joking !!!! What do you call LOAD SHEDDING? Caused directly by PF incompetence and ineptitude?
No power vacuum? You must be joking !!!! What do you call a budget deficit and a bankrupt Treasury? Due to incredibly stupid borrowing by a Minister of Finance that should have learned his lesson the first time around!
No power vacuum? You must be joking !!!! When the supposed head of state encourages tribal divisions and violence just to get re-elected and causes a disaster never seen before in Zambia?
No, this is not a power vacuum! This is gross negligence caused by greed and selfishness with NO REGARD for the future of Zambia! And we can see this quite clearly by inane and childish comments like this one from this M0R0N called Amos Chanda who really…
VERY CLEAR
Please stop feeding us with rubbish that ECL is in office ilegally! ba UPND! Just wait for another shot in 2016!
Chapwa
@In Search of The Truthnio:
Put some of that in your grandmother pu.sse.y and the remainder right in your Ar.se!! You rat eater!!
What else could he possibly say, lol? I say the vacuum never exists as the constitution automatically fills it either with an incumbent or a speaker.
In this case obviously with the incumbent…
In this case, obviously with the speaker, lol.
Just my opinion but it makes little sense to have the one being challenged through a petition, retain power. In a fair fight gloves off is both sides. Let them knock each other about on an even playing field.
It’s like Mr A Chanda knows the outcome of the presidential petition. How can he be talking about after inauguration the President. …..etc.
THE SAME CONSTITUTION THEY MADE SUCH DRAMA ABOUT SIGNING AT INSEPENDENCE STADIUM ANS SUPPOSEDLY WAS SO COSTLY THE MAN THAT PUT A PEN TO IT DOES NOT UNDERSTAND IT HIMSELF?
And in the same statement he asks the public not to comment on matters in court. Team reverse is such a joke.
Amos Chanda and your boss you are putting this country at Risk. The Matter here is not about Edgar Lungu Or HH. It is about the constitution of the Land. For the Record the Constitution states :
Article 1 (2) An act or omission that contravenes this Constitution is illegal.
(3) This Constitution shall bind all persons in Zambia, State organs and State institutions.
4) The validity or legality of this Constitution is not subject to challenge by or before
a State organ or other forum.
Article 104 (3)is instructive wherein it states that; Where an election petition is filed against the incumbent,under Article 104 (1), or an election is nullified, under Article 103(1) or an election is nullified, underArticle 103(3) (b) the speaker shall perform the…
You read very well and fail to understand why? It is filled and nullfied then the speaker will take over and to what benefits do you people want the speaker to be the president? Because he can not make any changes and later alone he can not even appoint HH to be president it is proven that ECL can win even without being in office because he beets last year. Stop the nonsense of the speaker to be the president I wonder what you people from UPND whant the speaker to be the president or HH to be the president???
executive functions , except the power to –
(a) Make an appointment . or (b) Dissolve the National assembly.
kindly note that the key word here is shall . This is mandatory and not discretionary.
Please lets all respect the constitution.
Poor reading culture even from the higher/ highest office bearers in our land makes many bloggers (less informed minds too) feed us with their opinions….. Could you please read the amended constitution and stop commenting on this issues, as you’ll see how it’s been abused!Art. 103- has the heading ELECTION PETITION, hence all that it stipulates is contained in the heading, even if we can cite other articles in support of the clear meaning of the implications of an ELECTION PETITION… Read for yourselves ART 99- 107 (9) if you want to know who’s acting on fears and opinions rather that the Rule of law that we’re still fighting for 50+ years after our independence
NORWEGIAN EMBASSY IN LUSAKA HAS BEEN CLOSED.
Poor governance is one of the reasons.
What a shame on PFOOLS.
We need war in Zambia to learn to voice out our opinions. Ba PF baya sana….they are using fear as an instrument to govern our country shame shame upon all of us for accepting what we know is utterly wrong and yet we are okay with it. The constitution is a whacky shady complicated piece of legislation that even Lungu himself has failed to understand. I just cannot stomach such nonsense prevailing in our country. Have the ministers started paying back the monies spent on useless campaigns leading up to the elections…the answer is a big NO and we do not even know whether they will be able to pay back. Unless its the Post Newspapers that owe the money, you will never see any action on it. I hate to be led by a clueless vision less leader who is busy amassing wealth for himself while the…
ubupuba nabufula sana under PF government
They are in government and are issuing statements without honoring the constitution. Why should should we respect them? We all know the exact interpretation of the Zambian constitutional law given our situation. If they can abrogate the constitution now what will stop them from doing it again? Zambians, we must impeach the person breaking our supreme law of the land. I’m asking sane PF supporters to explain to all of us why the constitution is being broken at will. Is it also too difficult for our lawyer ‘president’ to interpret? I also believe UNZA must recall the law degree they gave him because I consistently do not see the credibility of him keeping the degree going by this blatant violation of our constitution and not long ago he broke the law by keeping his…
continuation..
ministers in office after parliament was dissolved and getting government allowances, remember less than a quarter of Zambia’s population are in formal employment. He also for some strange reason wants to create an unneeded ministry of religious affairs which is complete nonsense and more waste of national treasury resources.
The constitution is very clear on this issue. Blind supporters want to argue any anyway. This is exactly how they vote also. No brains involved. To the fellow above asking why this matters, right now the judiciary can be intimidated or are being intimidated by his agents and BTW, It is is not uncommon to step aside from leadership positions when investigations concerning you are ongoing. He is not a role model and does not represent the best of us Zambians.
Amos Chanda, you’ve missed the point. Go back to the Amended Constitution to be guided accordingly. Quite frankly, Amos, you’re a disgrace. But since you can afford to take Zambians as fools, continue feeding your tummy at their expense. Equally, the Police is incapable of executing its duties- only when it comes to helpless individuals. You’re all planting a very bad seed. You begun with useless ministers continuing after parliament was dissolved, in order to do what your seared conscious dictated to you. To befriend a person like m7 is asking for trouble. We all know how he came to power. And today he boasts that a ballot paper cannot make him leave his post. Zambia is for all Zambians, unless you want to throw others into the Zambezi river. Besides, there was no sincerity in signing…
How does one reconcile similar provisions on election petitions under Articl 101 and 103? While Article 103 talks about Speaker taking over, Article 101 does not say anything on those lines. Rest of the text is the Same.
lung is not steeping asied or down no, he is and will be holding on to those powers as long as the petition will go. mr HH is just biter because he thinks that he is the one who is going to win the petion. no way mr lungu, be wise and understanding man, you lost the the game even the end of your petition will prove that you are a looser mr hakanini hikanena.
I feel very sorry for thee new crop of lawyers in the likes of mushipe, kateka and others in the discharge of
their work. In the Zambian constitution which is based on the United States model, you have a
monster called the Executive, the Legislature, and the Judiciary, all equal and existing as three anchor
pillars of democracy,
The doctrine of the separation of powers as propounded my one French lawyer Mountesque clearly spells out
the operations of each arm, and limits. In this structure, there are provisions for the removal of a head of
the executive, head of the legislature, head of the judiciary, etc. How on earth can there be a short cut to this
process, and where is the power vacuum? The provisions sited in the petition are flawed and amount to nothing. Removing a siting…
Article 103 covers the second ballot falling under article 102, which is the ballot after the courts’ ruling or run-off.
This is the clause article 104 is referring to, when the speaker is supposed to act as President.
Our elections are just in the initial Ballot which falls under article 101.
Article 101 has not been referred to in Article 104.
So how does the issue of the Speaker come in?
Removing a siting head of state is no play matter. This is different from any other executive position like DPP,
Minister, parastatal boss etc. The two clauses 101 and 103 sited in the constitution do not talk about
removing a siting head of state, One talks about handover to a president elect, the other talks about a
president elect who is subject of a vote re-run. The petitioners should separate the presidency that is
existing now, and the presidency that is to come after inauguration. Debating ECL in both is not the issue.
For goodness sake, follow the law. The serving president, is therefore under the law, mandated to run the
country, until the new president is sworn in and thereby hands over power to the new head of state.