President Edgar Lungu says he is concerned by the continued portrayal by UPND as objects of pity when they lose elections.
And President Lungu said he welcomed election observers but that he was against foreign observer missions trying to sway election results their way.
Speaking at State House when he received head of the AU observer mission leader, Ernest Bai Koroma who is Sierra leone former head of state that the UPND’s continued portrayal of themselves as objects of pity was excessively upsetting.
The President said the UPND had been on a path of rebellion, because they wanted to see a breakdown in law and order that would lead to a government of national unity.
“Our experience has been that, one particular opposition party, the leading one for that matter, has never accepted results as being free and fair from the very first time they participated in elections in this country, they cried foul for one reason or another and they want to be seen as victims; objects of pity by others,” said President Lungu.
“I am new, relatively new, I became President in 2015, my election was contested; courts of law everywhere! I won, the court said I won, results were not accepted. The opposition never recognized me, not even once did I hear the opposition party leader call me president; he calls me Edgar, Mr Lungu, at best, utmost; that’s the most dignified title he can give me,” said President Lungu.
The PF leader said ECZ must re-engage the UPND on the rules of the electoral process to avoid chaos in the country.
“After the 2016 elections. They raised issues… the public order Act and we tried our best to give the public order Act reform by way of constitution amendment reforms; they shot these reforms down and now they are crying,” he said.
“…after the elections, they will cry foul.
So for me we have to get to the basics and agree to the rules of engagement in the electoral process. Like in football, we have a referee, in this case we have Electoral Commission of Zambia… to engage them before they can start. When there is a breakdown of law and order and they will begin hacking people like some of you witnessed a few days ago… they killed two people in cold blood and no is talking. I deployed security…they cry foul again, said president Lungu.
And President Lungu said he welcomed election observers.
“My cry every time I meet diplomats especially those from the European Union and the western Countries, I tell them this democracy is new in Africa! It’s new in Zambia! You haven’t perfected it in 200 hundred years in America you are still struggling with it; give us space so that we probably evolve into what we may consider to be African democracy because I can’t understand why everybody should be called a cadre or a PF ruling party member,” said President Lungu.
And Koroma informed President Lungu of a 30member AU election observer team presently in Zambia.
He said the team consists of current and ex ambassadors, civil society members, and election experts.
And speaking when he met the Common Wealth Observation mission team led by former Tazanian president Jakaya Kiketwe, the president said his team had met a number of stakeholders in the process.
