By PRINCE MABUMBA
CITIZENS Democratic Party has challenged the UPND regime must immediately stop jailing opposition leaders.
Party president, Robert Mwanza, pointed out that only dictators continue to arrest opponents.
He said the UPND government is yet another failed project that joins its predecessors in their failure to grow the quality of political participation and democracy in Zambia.
The opposition leader said they are political cowards that are afraid of critical voices.
“Men and women of courage are those that stand and tell their opponents to their faces how they feel while meeting on an even playing field. Instead, UPND runs to hide behind the forces of the state which are at their command, a privilege not available to the opposition.
“In typical coward style, when they are challenged, they falsely and annoyingly claim that the actions of the police are not that of the ruling party. We don’t know if UPND thinks the rest of us are children, dumb and ignorant. While in the opposition, this is exactly what UPND suffered from, and the ruling party then made similar claims in their defense,” he said.
He stated that it is the constitutional responsibility of the ruling party to defend the democratic rights of everyone, including those of opposition leaders against their violation.
Mr Mwanza said clearly, the police are violating the rights of opposition leaders which calls for corrective measures by the ruling party, as its leader, who is the President of the nation, is charged with such a constitutional responsibility.
Mr Mwanza said his failure to act accordingly constitutes a violation of the constitution and the oath of office that he took when he was sworn into office.
“We wish to remind UPND that its ascendancy to power was hailed by the international community as a triumph of democracy over dictatorship. US President Joe Biden referred to the August 12, 2021, elections at the UN General Assembly which President Hichilema addressed as he made his debut as a newly elected leader of Zambia.
“To underscore the idea of the triumph of democracy over dictatorship, the EU Parliament invited Hichilema to address it where he made the famous words, “Zambia is back in the premiere league of nations”. These words and the expectations of the international community have, unfortunately, been rendered null and void by the record of the UPND in government,” Mr Mwanza said.
He further said: “the Zambian people have been robbed of their dreams of democracy in the real sense of the word while the expectations of the international community of a Zambia joining the premiere league of genuine democracies have been stomped under the feet of a UPND dictatorship.”
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