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Citizens First president, Harry Kalaba, has asked the Constitutional Court to dismiss a petition challenging his eligibility to contest the August 13 general election, arguing that the withdrawal of his running mate did not invalidate his presidential candidature.
In court documents filed in response to the petition, Kalaba maintains that his nomination remains valid because neither the Constitution nor any written law provides that a presidential candidate is automatically disqualified if a running mate withdraws after nominations have closed.
His former running mate, Moses Mawere, withdrew from the presidential ticket after the close of nominations.
“The Constitution does not provide that the subsequent withdrawal of a running mate automatically nullifies a valid nomination or disqualifies a presidential candidate,” Kalaba stated in his court documents.
Kalaba argued that he was validly nominated by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) after satisfying all constitutional requirements together with his then running mate, and that Mawere’s subsequent withdrawal has no legal effect on his candidature.
He further contended that the petitioner had misinterpreted the Constitution by seeking to introduce a ground for disqualification that did not exist in the law.
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According to Kalaba, Articles 90, 110 and 266 of the Constitution, relied upon by the petitioner, do not govern the validity of presidential nominations or provide that a candidate loses eligibility 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 Honourable Court ought not to read into the Constitution a ground of disqualification that the framers deliberately omitted,” he stated.
Kalaba has asked the Constitutional Court to dismiss the petition with costs.
The petition was filed by Youth Alliance Party president Mark Mwachilenga, who is seeking a declaration that Kalaba and Organised People’s Party president, Brian Mushimba, are ineligible to contest the August 13 presidential election because they no longer had running mates.
Alternatively, Mwachilenga is asking the court to order that the two presidential candidates be allowed to nominate replacement running mates before polling day.
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