Thu, 04 May 2017 11:38:54 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
HH and GBM are feigning denial of the last elections in an attempt to stoke confusion from which they hope to gain politically.
The two, according to PF Lusaka Province information and publicity secretary Ephraim Shakafuswa were fully aware that the International community and the church had declared the 2016 polls free and fair but insisted on “playing” denial to remain relevant to their members and stoke confusion in the country.
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and vice Geoffrey Mwamba, he said, were living in dangerous denial pretending they had won an election when the international community, election observers, and the church declared the 2016 polls as free and fair, he charged.
Commenting on Mr. Mwamba’s statement that President Lungu needed to swallow his pride because he could not force his party to recognise him as president, Mr. Shakafuswa charged that it was Mr. Mwamba and the UPND who were, were trying to remain politically relevant by living in denial over the election of President Edgar Lungu and were the ones who should swallow the bitter pill of defeat and pride.
He said the fact that President Lungu was sworn in after a delayed inauguration ceremony due to the UPND election petition was reason enough for any responsible politician to realise that they had lost the election, adding that the continued antagonism by the UPND had no bearing on national governance.
He said instead of asking President Lungu to swallow his pride, it was the UPND who should do so, move on and start preparing for the next general elections as fighting over a lost election will not change anything.
“There is no stalemate in an election; it is either you win or lost and the 2016 elections were both won through the ballot and the courts after the UPND petitioned the outcome and started playing delaying tactics until the period within which the case had to be determined elapsed.
“Whether the UPND maintain their stance over their loss will not make any difference because President Lungu is already in office and nothing will change until the next election because that is what Zambians voted for,” Mr. Shakafuswa said.
And Mr. Shakafuswa said chiefs in Southern Province should have counselled Mr Hichilema after the Mongu fracas if they were concerned about peace and unity in the country.
He said while the PF respected all traditional leaders regardless of which region of the country they came from, the ruling party was taken aback by the partisan stance taken by traditional leaders in the province.
“We respect all our traditional leaders because they are our leaders from which we get advice and this we do without any consideration of where they come from but we are taken aback by the stance taken by chiefs in Southern Province over the incarceration of Mr. Hichilema because this will divide us further.
“Among the roles of chiefs is to provide counsel and advice. We expected our leaders to counsel Mr. Hichilema for the commotion he caused in Mongu which had an adverse effect on national security but their silence and their consequent uproar after Mr. Hichilema was arrested shows the double standards they are playing. If they continue on this path, some people will mistake them for political cadres,” he said.
