Fri, 22 Dec 2017 12:38:37 +0000
By Aaron Chiyanzo
THE Patriotic Front (PF) pronouncement that President Edgar Lungu should be recognized as Republican President should not be misconstrued as a pre-condition for the proposed dialogue, Party secretary general, Davis Mwila has said.
Mr Mwila maintained at a press briefing in Lusaka yesterday that PF has not put any conditions to the proposed dialogue, but just a reminder to participants that the country already has a President.
And Mr Mwila has ordered all PF members not to comment on the dialogue process as only his office would be charged with that mandate going forward.
“As a party we have not put up any conditions, all we have done is to let our colleagues know that there is a President in place, who is President Edgar Lungu,” said Mr Mwila.
Mr Mwila said that PF was ready and still committed to the dialogue process and acknowledged the efforts so far made by the Commonwealth.
He said that PF was comfortable with the dialogue process being handled by the Zambia Centre for Interparty Dialogue (ZCID), whose board he said was composed of representatives from different political parties.
Mr Mwila also disclosed that ZCID had organized a Summit for presidents of political parties to be held sometime early next year.
He said that PF expected the Summit to be a success and attended by leaders from different political parties in the country.
Mr Mwila emphasized that even the dialogue process should involve all political parties, and not premised on UPND leader, Hakainde Hichilema and President Edgar Lungu.
He said that a mere reminder that the country already had a sitting President, who even chairs Cabinet, should not be misunderstood for a condition to the proposed dialogue.
Meanwhile, Mr Mwila said that henceforth, all PF members were banned from commenting on the dialogue process.
He reiterated that only his office would be charged with the responsibility of commenting or clarifying issues pertaining to the dialogue process.
Last week, Mr Mwila issued a statement to the effect that the party’s Central Committee had resolved that the recognition of President Lungu was a must for the proposed dialogue.
