Myndighed siger, at partiet ikke har betalt den lovpligtige registreringsafgift for partier i årevis – oppositionen kalder det et “angreb på demokratiet”.
Zambia’s former ruling party has been stripped of its legal status for not paying fees for the past 20 years – amounting to 75.000 US dollar, reports BBC online Wednesday
The Registrar of Societies says the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) has been deregistered for failing to pay its “statutory obligations”.
The party says it does not owe anything and will appeal against what it brands “an assault on democracy”. If the decision is upheld, the MMD will lose its parliamentary seats.
The MMD is one of Zambia’s oldest political parties, sweeping to power in 1991 in the country’s first multi-party elections. Last year, it became the largest opposition party with 53 seats when it lost power to the Patriot Front of President Michael Sata.
All political parties in Zambia are obliged to register with the Registrar of Societies, a government body.
The president used to be a leading member of the MMD before forming his own party.
MMD spokesperson Dora Siliya said the party had paid its dues – as recently as January this year – and no correspondence had been received on the matter.
MMD lawyers would be launching a judicial review of the decision, Ms Siliya added. The MMD has 21 days to appeal to the Minister of Home Affairs.
If the MMD loses its appeal, the speaker of the National Assembly has the right to declare the party’s parliamentary seats vacant – and by-elections will be held.
