Prof. Michelo Hansungule Removing Guy Scott from acting presidency before his term expires with the election of the new president will most definitely send wrong signals. With less than four weeks to the presidential by-election, it is completely unnecessary to resort to this extreme method of resolving what are essentially PF political party differences. Zambia is signatory to the African Charter on Elections, Democracy and Governance which commits state parties to not resort to unconstitutional changes of government which save for attempted coups the country has never experienced since independence. Prior to this Charter, Resolution AHG/Decl.5 (XXXV1) of the now African Union also known the Lome Declaration initiated the call for a ban on unconstitutional change of government. Based on this idea, the 1991 Zambian constitution as amended in 1996 embalmed elections on the basis of the multiparty system of government as the only means of instituting and changing government. Zambians are known all over the world as people that breath democracy. In terms of democracy particularly peaceful change of government including change of political parties from government, Zambia is one of the most civilised countries in the world. In the Southern African region, for instance, only Zambia and Malawi have pecaefully changed parties from government. Recent developments at Cabinet the nerve center of the executive arm of government are worrying to say the least. Yet, government has a duty to ensure peace and security and a minimum level of stability in order to ensure a free, fair and genuine election. Government cannot abrogate this responsibility especially now that the country is in the middle of an election. Cabinet cannot call for the resignation of the acting president yet this matter is already in court awaiting determination. Cabinet cannot be both ‘cabinet’ and ‘court’ at the same time only because ministers have crushed with the acting president over party matters. This will most definitely lead to unconstitutional change of government and gross violation of the Republican constitution.It is important for politicians to separate party matters from Republican matters and leadership means the ability to exercise maximum restraint especially in the face of extreme provocation. Losing it when it matters most is in fact the sign for total leadership failure.
Posted on: Thu, 18 Dec 2014 06:48:11 +0000
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