By NATION REPORTER
UPND president, Hakainde Hichilema has resolved to settle for his vice president, Mutale Nalumango as his running mate, the Daily Nation has learnt.
Sources inside UPND said Mr Hichilema had realised that the OCIDA brokered Alliance was not worth sacrificing the loyalty of Ms Nalumango for.
Mr Hichilema back-tracked on the position of running mate which he had earlier reportedly offered to MDC president, Felix Mutati.
However, highly placed UPND sources had told the Daily Nation party members wanted Mr Hichilema to appoint Mr Mutati as running mate and had dispatched some party officials to Southern Province to appeal to chiefs in the area to persuade Mr Hichilema to take on Mr Mutati.
Meanwhile, the Movement For Democratic Change (MDC) has insisted that the UPND Alliance is not cracking ahead of the August 12 general election.
MDC media director Thabo Kawana said during at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the party paid the said fees way back before it entered into the Alliance.
He said despite paying the nomination fees to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ), MDC leader Felix Mutati will not contest as a president candidate in the August 12 polls.
Mr Kawana said the Alliance has already agreed on its presidential candidate who is the UPND president adding that the MDC entered into the alliance without any attached conditions but simply to serve the interest of the Zambian people.
He said the PF has not chosen a running mate and wondered why some individuals are only questioning the Alliance of not having done so yet.
He also said it was also agreed that the running mate will come from amongst the Alliance partners the MDC, ADD, ZDD and NDC including the UPND which is also a member of the Alliance.
“The running mate will come from any of the parties including other interested groups and individuals who have formed part of the Alliance,” he said.
He said as far as the MDC was concerned, the party was in the Alliance unconditionally and that whoever was going to be picked amongst the partners, is going to be supported.
Mr Kawana said the Alliance partners are not in it for positions but to ensure that the country ushers in an alternative leadership in government that will serve the interests of the Zambian people.
