Kalaba asks Constitutional Court to dismiss petition seeking to bar him from presidential race

Citizens First president Harry Kalaba has asked the Constitutional Court to dismiss with costs a petition seeking to bar him from contesting the 13 August presidential election, arguing that the withdrawal of his running mate does not invalidate his candidature.

In his response to the petition, Kalaba says he remains a duly nominated presidential candidate because neither the Constitution nor the Electoral Process Act provides that the withdrawal of a running mate after nominations automatically nullifies a valid presidential nomination.

He states that he was lawfully nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia together with his running mate after meeting all constitutional and legal requirements. Kalaba admits that his former running mate, Moses Mawere, withdrew, but contends that the development has no legal effect on his candidature.

“The Constitution does not provide that the subsequent withdrawal of a running mate automatically nullifies a valid nomination or disqualifies a presidential candidate. Having been validly nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the 2nd respondent’s nomination remains valid,” Kalaba states.

He argues that the petitioner has misinterpreted the Constitution by assuming that the withdrawal of a running mate automatically disqualifies a presidential candidate, when no such provision exists.

Kalaba also denies violating articles 90, 110 and 266 of the Constitution, arguing that the cited provisions do not regulate the validity of presidential nominations or prescribe disqualification following the withdrawal of a running mate.

“Where the Constitution intends to disqualify a presidential candidate, it does so in clear and mandatory language. In the absence of such a provision, this court ought not to read into the Constitution a ground of disqualification,” he states.

Kalaba has urged the Constitutional Court to dismiss the petition with costs.

The petition was filed by Youth Alliance Party president Mark Mwachilenga, who wants the court to declare Kalaba and Organised People’s Party president Brian Mushimba ineligible to contest the 13 August presidential election. He says both men are no longer eligible because they no longer have running mates.

Alternatively, Mwachilenga seeks an order allowing the two candidates to nominate replacement running mates before polling day.

The case is one of several legal disputes stemming from an unusually high number of candidate and running-mate withdrawals ahead of this year’s election, a trend that Governance Elections Advocacy Research Services Initiative board chairperson Luckson Lungu has said prompted recent constitutional amendments to prevent the electoral calendar from being disrupted.

The Constitutional Court has yet to rule on the matter, with polling day fourteen days away.

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