September 9, 2016
‘There Is No Court Currently Hearing The Petition of Mr Hichilema And Mr Mwamba’ – PF
Mr Hakainde Hichilema and his vice president for administration Mr Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba will never succeed in hoodwinking Zambians into believing that the reason his election petition against the election of Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu failed was because the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) refused to entertain his petition.
Zambians are very enlightened and know that Mr Hichilema’s lawyers squandered their time by raising too many unnecessary applications in the ConCourt. As experienced lawyers they knew very well about the constitutional provisions of article 101(5) which states that; “The Constitutional Court shall hear an election petition filed in accordance with clause (4) within fourteen days of the filling of the petition” and article 103(2) which repeats as follows; “The Constitutional Court shall hear an election petition relating to the President-elect within fourteen days of the filling of the petition.”
For sure one doesn’t need to be a lawyer to understand the reality that the countdown for the fourteen days provided for in the Constitution within which to hear an election petition started on the day Mr Hichilema’s lawyers filed the petition.
Against this background, all reasonable Zambians believe that Mr Hichilema is to blame for the failure of his election petition. Therefore trying to convince Zambians otherwise is a waste of his time.
Regarding the refusal by the UPND leader to accept defeat, Zambians have not forgotten that Mr Hichilema vowed not to accept the outcome of the August 11 2016 presidential election if he lost. He came up with all kinds of unreasonable allegations as reasons why he wouldn’t accept defeat. For instance he claimed that the Patriotic Front had connived with government wings to register thousands of foreign voters as part of the scheme to rig elections.
Mr Hichilema also opposed the printing of ballot papers by the Dubai based printing company claiming that it was State House that had handpicked the company to rig elections. So no one should be surprised that Mr Hichilema has chosen to live by his own word not to accept defeat. Moreover, the UPND engaged in massive rigging in their strongholds which gave them confidence of scooping the presidency. So the defeat after notorious rigging has shocked them and it will take a bit of time before they come to terms with the loss.
But Mr Hichilema’s refusal to accept defeat has come as a blessing in disguise because it has helped Zambians understand his unreasonableness, arrogance and dictatorial tendencies.
Finally, we wish to ask our members and the general public not to panic regarding rumours circulating about the High Court stopping the swearing-in of President-elect Mr Edgar C Lungu on Tuesday 13, September 2016 at National Heroes Stadium in Lusaka.
The truth of the matter is that there is no court in Zambia that is currently hearing a petition against the election of Mr Lungu and his running mate Ms Wina. The election petition by Mr Hichilema that attempted to get the ConCourt to nullify the election of Mr Lungu collapsed and therefore we should all just focus on Tuesday next week.
We urge all patriotic Zambians in Lusaka and surrounding areas to make an effort to be counted among the thousands of our people who have vowed not to miss the monumental inauguration event at which Zambia will open a new page with the swearing in of Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu as Zambia’s seventh Republican President.
Frank Bwalya
PF DEPUTY SPOKESPERSON