By Patson Chilemba
There is no one who is normal in PF who can oppose the candidature of President Edgar Lungu for 2021, says the ruling party’s Lusaka provincial chairperson Paul Moonga.
But sources in the party have told Daily Revelation that contingency measures are being floated in the event President Lungu is blocked from running for another term of office by the courts of law, including considering Finance minister Dr Bwalya Ng’andu to run.
Speaking with Daily Revelation, Moonga said PF members were unanimously behind the belief that President Lungu would be allowed to run, because he was merely finishing late president Michael Sata’s term the first time he ran for the presidency. He said only an insane PF member could think otherwise.
“There is nobody who is normal who can say that from PF. Most people in PF are normal and there are no two terms (the President has served),” Moonga said.
However, impeccable sources in the ruling party have said contingency measures were being considered.
“The President is not foolish, he understands that there is a chance this thing might go against him. One of the contingency measures involves floating the idea of Dr Ng’andu running,” the sources said. “There is also a push to try to persuade Chishimba Kambwili to rejoin the party ranks so that it’s easy to have him there in case the President is stopped.”
And Moonga has expressed skepticism over the party’s target to register over 1.8 million voters in Lusaka, saying the registration exercise being conducted by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) was moving too slow.
“We can’t get that number, far from it. Very far away from it. The normal situation is that every polling station must have people to register and must have a kit. Now you go to school there is no polling district, you have to go somewhere else,” Moonga said. “Now this time around they tell you you can register anywhere but where you vote the is no registration center, which is totally pathetic.”
Moonga said the ECZ would be blamed if things did not go well.
“Of course ECZ, they are autonomous. We are saying as government if you have any challenges please come through and liaise with government,” he said.
On the adoption of members of parliament, the process which is in overdrive as people are already positioning themselves to stand in various constituencies, Moonga said each candidate would be adopted by the works they have done.
“Your performance determines your adoption process. It doesn’t matter how senior you are, you are a member of the central committee, you are a member of parliament, if your performance has been pathetic you can’t risk the party,” he said.
Moonga further denied the ruling party’s involvement in the matters Chilufya Tayali had brought up against opposition UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema.
“We will wait for the court to determine Tayali has his own evidence I can’t comment much because let’s wait for the courts of law to determine the matter to see who is saying what. HH also has a right to go to court if he feels that he has been defamed,” said Moonga. “It’s Tayali who has the evidence against him and that is his own personal evidence which as PF we have nothing to do. As PF we have nothing to do between Tayali and HH.” –Daily Revelation