Zambian court rules ex-president Lungu ineligible to run for another term

Zambia’s Constitutional Court ruled on Tuesday that worn president Edgar Lungu is ineligible to bustle for one more term in region of enterprise after he launched his return to politics closing yr.

The nation’s very best court ruled that Lungu’s first term, which he served from 2015 to 2016 after the demise of then-president Michael Sata, counted as a plump term.

His 2d term was from September 2016 to August 2021, and he then misplaced the presidency to United Occasion for National Train candidate Hakainde Hichilema in the 2021 national election.

“I settle for this verdict. I settle for it no longer with resignation nonetheless with salvage to the underside of,” Lungu acknowledged in a put up on social media platform Facebook after the resolution.

Civil rights groups screech Lungu, of the Patriotic Front (PF) celebration, would were a solid challenger to Hichilema in the next presidential election, ensuing from be held in 2026.

Lungu acknowledged he would now put into effect “thought B” nonetheless did no longer provide facts on what this might entail.

“The constitution makes the first respondent ineligible to participate in any future elections as a presidential candidate,” the judgment acknowledged, including Lungu had twice been elected and has twice held region of enterprise.

For the length of the memorial service for Sata in October 2023, Lungu acknowledged he would advance out of retirement. His political comeback followed the arrest of numerous members of the family, including his essential other, on allegations of possessing the proceeds of crime.

There was heavy police presence outside the court session, which Lungu did no longer inspire.

“We are studying the subject. However we’re gravely spirited by the court’s resolution and ruling,” PF spokesperson Emmanuel Mwamba acknowledged.