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Court blocks firing of 27 MPs
19/12/2007 07:32 - (SA)
Lusaka - A Zambian high court on Tuesday issued an order restraining the main opposition from sacking 27 of its MPs who defied a party instruction to boycott a government-sponsored constitutional conference.
The court in Lusaka issued the order after Xavier Chishimba, on behalf of 26 other opposition lawmakers, applied to the court to stop their leader, Michael Sata, from sacking them from the Patriotic Front (PF) party.
"It is ordered by way of penal notice that you the defendants, your servants or agents acting in your names or for your benefit refuse or fail to abide by this order, you will be liable for contempt of court and will be punished," part of the order stated.
Chishimba, in his affidavit, stated that taking part in the year-long national conference to draft a new constitution for the country was an important assignment which he could not boycott.
Sata, who was his party's presidential candidate in the 2001 and 2006 polls, said he would challenge the court order.
The conference, scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Lusaka, was designed to help reach a consensus on a replacement for Zambia's colonial-era constitution.
However, Sata, who founded the opposition party in 2001, has criticised the conference as a "farce" and said his party would not take part because the composition of the conference was allegedly tailored to suit the interests of President Levy Mwanawasa's ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy party.
If sacked from the PF, the 27 lawmakers would lose their parliamentary seats and the electoral commission would call for by-elections to replace them.
The conference was expected to bring together some 500 people, including MPs, leaders of small opposition parties, civil society groups and traditional leaders.
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