PRESIDENT Hakainde Hichilema has warned that the country may find itself in a situation where it could have no elections for eight or nine years because of some gaps in the constitution.
Addressing parliament yesterday, President Hichilema called for the immediate change of the constitution to avoid such a problem in future.
He wondered what the former regime was thinking to design and sign off a constitution that had gaps when it had a chance to correct the wrongs.
“Some lacunas can lead us to a situation where we could have no general election for eight or nine years. That’s not a joke. We could have no election for eight or nine years, those lacunas sit in the constitution, so those who signed off that constitution, I’m not sure what they were intending to do. We should work together, this is not a partisan isssue this is a national issue,” lamented the President.
Meanwhile, former president Edgar Lungu has described President Hichilema’s statement as reckless claiming that the President may be ignorant of the law.
In a statement, Lungu argued that the constitution is clear on the topic of elections and stands short of having lacunas.
He challenged the President to clearly disclose the actual gaps in the Constitution regarding the holding of elections which he referred to as he addressed parliament.
“As far as Zambians are aware, the Republican Constitution, as amended in 2016, is very unequivocal about the subject of holding elections. This is the Constitution that has been credited with the unprecedented prescription of even the date for General Elections.”
“A lacuna in the Constitution implies that there is no specific provision or regulation that addresses a particular situation or issue,” wrote Lungu.
The former president also accused the UPND government of contemplating to extend the Presidential term from the current five to seven years.
By Catherine Pule
Kalemba, September 14, 2024
