THE Law Association of Zambia has been joined to the case in which four opposition leaders are seeking the Constitutional Court’s interpretation on whether President Edgar Lungu is eligible to contest the 2021 presidential elections.
According to an affidavit filed by LAZ, through lawyer John Sangwa, the legal body stated that it was an interested party and, as such, it should be allowed to join to the petition filed by the leaders of Christian Democratic Party, Zambia Republican Party, News Congress Party and Citizen Democratic Party; Dan Pule, Wright Musoma, Peter Chanda and Robert Mwanza respectively.
LAZ further submitted that one of the statutory mandates of LAZ was to seek the advancement of the rule of law and the rights and liberties of an individual.
LAZ stated that it was seeking to know whether President Lungu’s election of January 20, 2015, which expired on August 11, 2016 did not constitute a term of office pursuant to Article 106 (b) of the Constitution of Zambia Amendment Act number 2 of 2016.
Constitutional Court Judge Margarate Munalula joined LAZ to the case and adjourned the matter to February 27, 2017 to allow more interested parties to file formal applications if they were interested to join the proceedings.
So far, Heritage Party president Lieutent General Godfrey Miyanda and the UPND have also applied to be joined to the proceedings.
Lt Gen Miyanda told the court that he would be objecting to the notion that President Lungu was eligible to contest the 2021 presidential election.
Miyanda submitted that the four opposition leaders had not indicated to the court whether President Lungu had delegated them to file the application on his behalf as a prospective nominee in 2021.
Meanwhile, UPND secretary general Steven Katuka argued that President Lungu was not eligible to contest the 2021 presidential election.