OPPOSITION LEADERS SLAM CALLS TO HALT ELECTIONS OVER LUNGU’S BURIAL
Opposition leaders have criticized calls to halt this year’s general elections until late former President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who died in June last year, is put to rest.
New Congress Party (NCP) President Pastor Peter Chanda says the government and Attorney General Mulilo Kabesha should be blamed for the delay in burying the former head of state.
Speaking in an interview with KBN TV News, Pastor Chanda said the burial would likely have already taken place if the Attorney General had not petitioned against the Lungu family’s decision to bury the former president in South Africa.
Pastor Chanda was commenting on remarks by Bishop John Mambo, who proposed that Zambia should not proceed with this year’s elections if the former president is not buried.
However, Pastor Chanda says the decision to put the forthcoming general elections on hold is beyond the government noting that Zambia is a constitutional democracy and that there are no shortcuts when it comes to amending the Constitution.
Meanwhile, National Democratic Congress (NDC) President Saboi Imboela has also expressed displeasure with Bishop Mambo’s remarks.
Ms. Imboela says the country needs elections now more than ever to usher in a new president who would ensure the former head of state is laid to rest.
Meanwhile, Revamp for Development Change –RDC President Robert Chansa has rejected any calls suggesting to halt the elections unconstitutionally.
Chikondi Foundation President John Mambo is quoted to have proposed that Zambia should not proceed with this year’s general elections if the late former President Edgar Lungu has not yet been buried.
Bishop Mambo questioned how the country could proceed with national elections while the body of a former president remains in a foreign mortuary.
He has appealed to Hakainde Hichilema, political leaders, and all stakeholders to prioritise the burial of the former head of state, whose body he said has remained in a mortuary in South Africa, for more than nine months following his death.
By Patricia Chilambikwa
KBN TV