No seats for Tonse - NRPUP

…says Tonse Pamodzi Alliance members are not eligible as Peter Sinkamba, a member of the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance says Ezra Tembo, president of the NRPUP cannot be the one to nominate the MPs for Proportional Representation because he was never a presidential candidate, explains that Brian Mundubile should be the one to nominate By BARNABAS ZULU THE Tonse Pamodzi Alliance members are not being considered to be nominated as Members of Parliament through the Proportional Representation because they are not eligible, the National Reconciliation Party for Unity and Prosperity (NRPUP) has announced. But Tonse Pamodzi Alliance member Peter Sinkamba has said the NRPUP risks disintegrating and getting into oblivion because of what he has described as selfishness by some party leaders who are now claiming MPs they did not earn. Speaking in an interview yesterday, Mr Sinkamba, who is also Green Party president, said NRPUP’s decision to distance itself from the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance and exclude members of alliance parties from Proportional Representation (PR) seats could have serious consequences. Mr Sinkamba said the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance had always been founded on the principle that member parties should work collectively, regardless of which political party was selected as the vehicle for contesting elections. “Our understanding of the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance is that we must always work as a collective,” he said. He said NRPUP was selected as the alliance’s vehicle shortly before the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) deadline after other options, including the FDD, became difficult to use. “I was one of those that made a decision to pick NRPUP an hour before the closure of the time. We exercised a lot of maturity to settle for NRPUP,” Mr Sinkamba said. Mr Sinkamba said members of the alliance had expected that the spirit of togetherness would continue after the elections, including in the distribution of PR seats. He said the alliance had initially understood that PR seats would be distributed equitably among participating political parties. “The initial approach was that if we cross the bridge, those PR seats would have been distributed equitably to all political parties participating in the election,” Mr Sinkamba said. He said the number of available PR seats was not large, but could have allowed several parties within the alliance to benefit. However, Mr Sinkamba said NRPUP’s position that members of Tonse Pamodzi Alliance parties were not eligible for nomination through PR was concerning. “Now NRPUP says, if you are a member of the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance, you are not eligible to be nominated as a Member of Parliament,” he said. Mr Sinkamba said the issue could eventually backfire if it was not handled properly. “Just get reassured that if this issue is not properly handled, it will backfire in the long run,” he said. But the Ezra Tembo-led NRPUP says it has already submitted its list of its members to be considered for parliamentary seats under the Proportional Representation (PR) system and that no one from the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance had been considered. NRPUP secretary general Nonde Mubanga said the party had only considered its own members for the 16 parliamentary PR seats allocated to it. Mr Mubanga said the list comprises eight women, six youths and two persons with disabilities, with the party also attempting to achieve provincial representation. “We have 16 seats. We have eight women, six youths and two persons with a disability. We have not considered any member of the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance because we have a political party that has representation in Parliament. “As a matter of fact, NRPUP is no longer a member of the Tonse Pamodzi Alliance and so, only members of the NRPUP have been considered,” Mr Mubanga said. He said the party had also ensured that the two persons with disabilities did not have the same disability. Mr Mr Mubanga said the party had tried to balance the representation of women and youths across the provinces. “The youths and the women, we’ve tried by all means to balance the provinces so that we can have at least a representative from each province,” he said. Asked whether NRPUP had considered incorporating members of other political parties, particularly its former Tonse Alliance partners, Mr Mubanga said the party was now operating independently. “No, what I have done is, I am speaking to you as NRPUP. And remember, just after the elections, we withdrew from Tonse, So as I speak to you right now, we are no longer part of Tonse. We are doing this as NRPUP,” Mr Mubanga said.

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