Maravi

Deferring mayoral polls is illegal, observes Sata

Deferring mayoral polls is illegal, observes Sata
Written by Chibaula Silwamba
Monday, December 08, 2008 5:40:18 AM

OPPOSITION Patriotic Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday observed that President Rupiah Banda and local government minister Benny Tetamashimba's decision to postpone mayoral elections is illegal.

In a media statement issued in Lusaka on the postponement of the mayoral and council chairpersons' elections, Sata stated that President Banda and Tetamashimba did not have powers to defer mayoral elections. He demanded that the elections be held forthwith.

"Zambia operates a democratic local government system under the local government Act of 1992 and the local government elections Act. Under this system, mayors and council chairmen [chairpersons] are elected for a period of one year as provided by the law. These elections cannot be postponed or deferred by the Minister of Local Government and Housing or the President of Zambia as they have no powers to do so under the law," Sata stated. "For the mayoral civic year 2008/2009, the elections were due to be held at the beginning of September 2008. This was practically not possible because the country was still observing the period of national mourning for the late president Levy Mwanawasa."

However, Sata stated that it was important that elections should have been held immediately after the period of national mourning.

"When the new and ignorant Minister of Local Government and Housing, Mr Tetamashimba was appointed, he immediately issued an administrative circular letter instructing all local authorities to postpone these elections. This decision was certainly illegal," Sata observed. "Last week, councillors were informed that mayoral elections would be held on Friday 5th December, 2008. The Patriotic Front urged its councillors to ensure that they attend these meetings to elect their ceremonial civic leaders in order to provide leadership in councils."

Sata said to the PF's dismay, they came to learn that the elections had been put off.

He stated that the PF wondered how Zambians could live under a Kangaroo system of government which rapes democratic principles at the local level.

"This is not the legacy of the late president Levy Mwanawasa or continuity as Mr Banda preaches. Our late president did not sink so low to promote his personal interest and destroy democracy," stated Sata. "If the President does not understand our system of local government we wonder whether or not he understands the whole system of government.

Labels: MAYOR, PF, SATA

posted by MrK @ 5:40 AM