GOVERNMENT says the new Constitution allows ministers to continue serving after the dissolution of Parliament.
Justice Minister Ngosa Simbyakula said the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ) was at liberty to seek a court interpretation over the status of Cabinet ministers after the dissolution of Parliament today.
This follows LAZ president Linda Kasonde’s argument that all ministers should vacate offices because they would cease to be members of Parliament (MPs) from today.
But Dr Simbyakula said in an interview with journalists yesterday that LAZ had the right to seek legal redress and that Government could not stop the legal body from proceeding with its plans.
Ms Kasonde said only the President and the Vice-President would be eligible to hold office when Parliament is dissolved.
She said ministers would no longer qualify to hold their positions after Parliament dissolves.
She said LAZ would take the matter to the Constitutional Court for determination in light of Government’s position that ministers would continue in office.
She said LAZ was of the view that the constitutional requirement for a person to hold the position of minister under Article 166 of the Constitution was that he or she should be an MP.
On the position of the Vice-President, Ms Kasonde said the Constitution of Zambia Act number 1 of 2016 provides that the Vice-President should be treated as though she had been appointed under the new provisions of the Constitution.
She was speaking at a media briefing in Lusaka.—TIMES OF ZAMBIA/ZNBC