COULD LUNGU HAVE HELD ON TO POWER? (EDITORIAL COMMENT FOR MONDAY 3RD NOVEMBER 2014) “If I wanted or if I was selfish, I would have held on to power, but for the sake of peace in the country, I had to do the right thing,” said Edgar Lungu on Saturday. This short statement from Edgar explains a lot of things that are going on, part of the confusion that we are witnessing. Edgar says “if I wanted”! Did Edgar really have a choice in this matter? Edgar says “if I was selfish”! Is this a matter that could be decided on the basis of Edgar’s benevolence, selflessness? It’s clear that Edgar has been misleading his supporters that he was entitled to be the acting President following the death of president Michael Sata, and Dr Guy Scott is simply there because of his “goodwill”. This is not correct. This is being dishonest on Edgar’s part. We say dishonest because Edgar knows the truth about the constitutional provisions surrounding this matter. Unless political ambition has totally blinded him from being able to read and interpret the law correctly. Anyway, what can one expect from a lawyer who is dishonest with his own clients? If Edgar could afford to be dishonest with his clients, how can one expect him to be more honest with his political supporters and cadres? The truth is that Edgar gave up power because it did not legally belong to him and he was scared of being arrested and prosecuted for treason. We challenge him to go and get back those powers from Dr Scott if they legitimately belong to him and see what will happen to him, and see where he will end up. As Professor Muna Ndulo correctly observes, the opinion of the Law Association of Zambia and that of the Attorney General on this issue “is legally correct”. By appointing him to act as President in his absence, president Sata did not make Edgar the Vice-President. And moreover, no one has the power to change any provision of the Constitution single-handedly or unilaterally. If president Sata wanted Edgar to act as President in the event of his death, he would have made him the Vice-President of the Republic. But he didn’t. Why? This is the question Edgar should answer. Moreover, ours is a constitutional democracy and not a monarchy where the king or the queen can, as and when he or she wishes, decree this or that. Even in a constitutional monarchy, there are limits to what the king or queen can decree because he or she is not above the constitution. Equally, president Sata was not above the constitution. All his decisions and actions had to conform to the constitution to stand; failure to that, they become null and void. President Sata’s wishes cannot constitute the law of the land. His wishes are not binding on this country unless they are tied to the Constitution or other enabling laws. Similarly, president Sata’s appointment of Edgar to act as President when there is a sitting Vice-President does not constitute a change in the Constitution. It was simply a matter of political expedience on his part that has no consequence on what happens after his death. And as Prof Ndulo explains, “The fact that the late president did not, for whatever reason, appoint Scott to act as president during his tenure of office is immaterial. There is no one elected official (whether they are president or not) who has power to change a constitutional provision. A constitutional provision is not amended because the president misinterprets it or does not apply it. There are procedures provided in the constitution for amending the constitution. Nor is the meaning of a provision a matter for the president. Our Constitution vests judicial power in the courts, that included the power to interpret the Constitution”. But this is a warning to the Zambian people of what Edgar can do if he is given presidential powers. It seems to Edgar, the Constitution doesn’t matter; political expedience is more important to him. If he thinks peace can be disturbed by upholding the Constitution, he can allow the Constitution to be violated as he has “done” in this case. As he says himself, for the sake of peace, he has allowed Dr Scott to be acting President “without” the backing of the law. We say this because Edgar believes that according to the Constitution, it is him who should be acting President, but for the sake of peace, he has allowed Dr Scott to do so. What nonsense is this? So, according to Edgar, whenever peace is threatened in any way, the Constitution can be abandoned! It is easy to understand why Edgar was chewing clients’ money as a lawyer. What type of lawyer is this? What type of politician is this? Get him to run your country and see what you will get! Don’t say you were never warned. All the signs or indicators of dishonesty in Edgar are there for all to see. But we seem to see only what we want to see. It’s clear Edgar has no respect for the rule of law. His is the rule of convenience or expedience. To him, a constitution seems to mean very little, if not nothing. But the Constitution is the rock upon which a democratic government rests – the formal statement of its fundamental obligations, limitations, procedures and institutions. It is the supreme law of our country, and all citizens, presidents to peasants alike, are subject to its provisions. And as Prof Ndulo says, “Our peculiar security is the possession of a written Constitution. Let us not make it a blank paper by construction…The idea of a constitutional democratic government, or constitutionalism, connotes a government defined, regulated and limited by a constitution. A government constituted by a written constitution can only have such powers as are granted to it by the Constitution.” The Law Association of Zambia and the Attorney General have given a very clear explanation of what the Constitution says on this score. But Edgar is today telling us everything that is happening is simply a result of his will or benevolence. We know there was a lot of pressure from Edgar and his friends not to allow Dr Scott to be the acting President but were defeated by the strength of the legal arguments against what they wanted. They simply don’t want to accept the law as it stands and they are trying in all sorts of ways to undermine Dr Scott’s role as acting President. This should not be tolerated. We join Prof Ndulo in saluting the Law Association of Zambia and the Attorney General “for having given very clear interpretation, sound legal advice and having the courage to stand by the law during this difficult time. Lesser mortals would have capitulated to political manipulation and sectional interests”. And as Dag Hammarskjold observed, “It is when we all play safe that we create a world of utmost insecurity. It is through the ‘shade of courage’ alone that the spell can be broken.” - See more at: postzambia/news.php?id=3628
Posted on: Mon, 03 Nov 2014 12:09:15 +0000
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