Former Attorney General Musa Mwenye says the only option open for President Edgar Lungu if he is not happy with elections results is to petition in the Constitutional Court.
In a brief statement posted on his Facebook page, Mr Mwenye who is also former Solicitor General said a presidential candidate who is dissatisfied with electoral results, whether he is Republican president or not, is to Petition that election at the constitutional court.
He however cautioned that the petition can only be filed after the declaration of a winner.
“Immediately the petition is filed into court, if filed against the incumbent, the constitution of the Republic of Zambia requires that the President step down and the Speaker of the National Assembly becomes acting President until the determination of the case,” he stated.
He added, “If the election is nullified then the speaker acts until a president is elected and sworn in.”
Mr Mwenye said after the 2016 election, the law that requires the speaker to act as President was simply ignored.
“If any petition is filed this time, we should and will insist that the Speaker acts as is required by the constitution,” he said.
In a rather strange turn of events, President Lungu in a statement issued through State House Spokesman Isaac Chipampe said he was not satisfied with the outcome of elections as they were allegedly not free and fair.
He said he is currently consulting on his next move.
No need for that. Just concede and let other people organize the country and your party. Please preserve the dignity that goes with the presidency. Show magnanimity even in the face of adversity.
The law that says the speaker of the nation assembly should take over was simply ignored in 2016. Gangsta type of government we had and people buried their heads in the sand ati he was chosen by God! Blasphemy!
Once again, I tend to agree with Deja Vu. Please Mr President, I kneel down before you as I appeal to you to show magnanimity by conceding defeat at this earliest time and congratulating the winner. You will lose nothing ; on the contrary, the nation will respect you for taking such an important decision. This business of petitioning election results when it is clear you lost genuinely is not right. Let us learn to concede defeat and live on. As I have stated elsewhere, you played your part for which posterity will remember you. Meanwhile, to the incoming president, this is my humble advice: leave vengeance to God. People will remember you for the manner you will treat your former political opponents. As you sit on the presidential throne, always remember that the people who put you…
It is funny how things change. The bitter dosage you were giving your friends to stomach is turned against you. It is not uncommon that the ballots have suddenly become unfree and unfair.
Let’s do what Ivory Coast did: when incumbent Gagbo lost and refused to concede and stepdown, the army came in and arrested Gagbo in his undies! I don’t particularly look forward to see Edgar China Lungu in his undies, but maybe it’s necessary evil!
there are from all the corners of Zambia. They turned up in their thousands to make sure that the change they were yearning for was achieved. and they are looking up to you for protection against poverty and other vices. Emphasise the need for Zambians to live together under the banner of One Zambia, One Nation. More importantly, improve on what you found; never make the mistake one leader once made when he decided to do away with almost everything his predecessor did, even good ones!
Some notables are missing on the LT commentary page. Are they on the run or have they simply changed names? It is strange to see how people quickly abandon post. Kikikiki. You run even when no one is pursuing you.
@No5 please don’t even go there. We’re Zambia not Ivory Coast. Lungu will concede as soon as he realizes he’s not dreaming.
AmaFacts, was it a bleach of the Constitution? So in other words, this can still come up as an offense committed, requiring prosecution, right?
How I laughed when people called Lazy Lungu a humble man …there is nothing humble about that man he knows the more he digs in the more tensions increase, this man would rather burn the whole house down with him. The worst part about it is he has placed stooges all over him and in the civil service. He knows that the system was rigged to support the ruling party so after a winner is declared his stooges will only think about self preservation and dump him. How dare he talks about unfair 3 days when his opponents have been unfairly treated for 7 years even arrested. I hope this man does not get an amnesty for his abuses in office as this trend will never end.
You wonder where that SA blogger is who used to submit 10 posts with different aliases consecutively …really laughable….their source of income has been cut now they down have the energy or stomach to post in support of their President. Even Tasila will run away to back to USA.
Lungu must be prosecuted for not following the law in 2016 to allow the speaker to act as president.
He also stubbornly misled his cabinet that they were allowed to stay in office even after parliament was dissolved. Guess who owed the government money when the constitutional court said it was illegal for ministers to stay on after dissolution of parliament? Chagwa mambala never paid any ngwee his ministers had to look for money on their own.
Mambala Chagwa Lungu needs to be prosecuted for any crimes that he committed during his time as President.
Zambians need to know and trust that No One is above the Law.
Chagwa Lungu, wagwa mambala kikikikikikiki
Mafaka Kambwili shame on you for your divisive rhetoric. Shame on you mafaka
Humility goes before honour
The one thing we have to guard against as Zambians is to be one-track minded about the alleged electoral malpractices in Southern Province. This is not Zambia’s last elections. The behaviour by the UPND of chasing polling agents of other political parties was there even in 2016. It has again been repeated. If it continues like this, when UPND forms government, we can expect this to even get worse and no other political party will ever be treated fairly in Southern Province. This can lead to a situation where other political parties also start chasing polling agents of UPND in other parts of Zambia where they may be regionally strong. Zambians should avoid creating another political monster with UPND.
Even petitioning can be done if race is close.
But look at the difference? Are there no leaders who can advise our president. Look
At Trump how he finally gave up though his
Was a close run
He has no choice but to step down and/or file a petition of prepare to go to the ICC.
His 2016 win was controversial but not lucky this time round.
I need to look at the archives to find the names of all those Edgar Chagwa Lungu stooges…but the name that never escapes my mind is that of KAIZER ZULU… the tormentor of the Zambians… this is the one to hunt
We should not sink the levels of using instances of countries like Côte d’Ivoire. Zambia is too far from that sort of dynamic. Let our outgoing leader go through the stages of grief and then he will concede and we shall move along. We are bigger than ramshackle behaviors elsewhere.
No wonder we don’t develop…Zambians everything is taken as a Joke….no need to start wasting time with concourt…LUNGU HAS LOST CLEARY…now he wants to start wasting HH’s time…..Zambian courts if you’re not care a case can take 5 years especially with his appointment Judges…Soldiers should warn him and remove him from state house by Tuesday
@Tarino Orange, AT THE RATE WE ARE GOING, I SUGGEST LUNGU BOOKS A TAXI TO MUKOBEKO MAXIMUM PERSON AS HIS NEXT RESIDENCE.
HE HAS PUSHED HIS LUCK TOO FARE, HE IS FORGETTING THAT HE WAS NOT OPERATING IN A VACUUM. IN A NUTSHELL STATEWITNESSES ARE NOW ABANDUNT( IN BEMBA THEY SAY “FYANY”). EVEN THE WIDOWS CASE DIDN’T TEACH HIM A LESSON OR TWO.