PF WILL CONTEST AUGUST POLLS UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME – LUBINDA

PF WILL CONTEST AUGUST POLLS UNDER A DIFFERENT NAME – LUBINDA

GIVEN Lubinda says the PF has realised that it cannot hope to go into the August elections using the party’s name.

Lubinda, who is PF acting president, says the party will therefore contest the polls using an umbrella it will choose for the convention, to be held by the end of February.

Meanwhile, Lubinda says the party did not fire those who attended the Dan Pule-led Tonse Alliance elective conference but only accepted their decision to relinquish their membership after they affiliated themselves with another political organisation.

Speaking when he appeared on Diamond TV, Wednesday, Lubinda said the party had come to a realisation that the Judiciary would continue to adjourn PF legal matters indefinitely.

“The Patriotic Front does not exist on paper, the Patriotic Front exists through its members not on paper. What has been in the courts is the ownership of the documents, that has been the issue of contention in court. Who are the registered office bearers at the Registrar of Societies? That is what has graced the courts, it is not a question of where the members are.

The members are the ones who subscribe to the ideals of the party called the Patriotic Front and a party is not just the paper, a party are its members. So those who are encouraging our members of Parliament, our councillors to join other political parties claiming that the PF only exists on paper are not being truthful,” he said.

“What the Patriotic Front is, is a collection of its members. I was in Mpika only the other day and I met with numerous members of the political party called the PF. And this is the reason why the central committee said now it is clear that the Judiciary will continue to adjourn these matters indefinitely, and we can not hope to go into the August elections using the Patriotic Front.

Let us instead gear ourselves and prepare our members to prepare to go to conferences under whatever umbrella we shall choose, which umbrella we shall use to contest and win the August elections”.

Lubinda said preparations for the convention to be held before the end of February were going on smoothly.

“True to my word, after 12th January the following Saturday which happened to have been 17 January, the Central committee met and deliberated on the matters that were before the High Court. And they looked at the proceedings in the High Court, which were namely the adjournment of the ruling in Kabwe and the adjournment in the judgment in Lusaka. The Central Committee decided that this was now water under the bridge.

We shall not continue to wait for the Judiciary to be playing imingalato, to be delaying their judgments because this is not in the favour of the PF. We therefore decided that by the end of February the party would be taken to a conference under whatever umbrella would be chosen by the party,” he said.

“We also met last Saturday and reaffirmed that position, so as we stand today we are happy to report that everything is going in very complete progression towards holding the conference before the end of February”.

Asked to comment on the expulsion of Brian Mundubile and other members, Lubinda said the central committee did not expel anyone on its own volition.

“The communiqué after the Central Committee [meeting] of Saturday was very clear, the Central Committee decided to accept the decision that was taken by the people you were talking about to affiliate themselves to a political organisation other than the Patriotic Front.

The Central Committee did not on its own volition expel any one. And please make it clear, much as I’m president of the PF, I report to the Central Committee and I’m under the direction of the Central Committee, as president. I don’t direct the Central Committee. I report to and I’m directed by the Central Committee,” he said.

“The Central Committee is guided by the constitution and as all of you are aware, there is no political party that will allow its members to belong to other political organisations apart from that political party. And in this particular case, the Central Committee received a report which stated that the named people attended a general conference, an elective conference of a body to which the Patriotic Front does not belong against the instructions of the party and because of that, the Central Committee simply accepted that those individuals had relinquished their membership of the Patriotic Front”.

Asked if he had endorsed the decision by NCP leader Peter Chanda to endorse Makebi Zulu as NCP’s presidential candidate, Lubinda responded in the negative, adding that Chanda’s remarks were political sentiments for his party.

He added Zulu spoke to him to dissociate himself from Chanda’s endorsement and was therefore in good standing with the PF.

“Not at all, the Patriotic Front is not in the business of interfering with decisions of other political parties. Much as the NCP approached us in the Tonse Alliance for them to be re-admitted to the alliance after they resigned their membership of the Tonse Alliance, we have no control whatsoever of their political decisions.

What we have control over are the decisions made by our members. We heard the statement issued by Peter Chanda that they had adopted one of our members to be their presidential candidate, that is totally beyond our control.

What we will control is whether a member of the Patriotic Front offers themselves and is accepted to be a member or a presidential candidate, parliamentary candidate or a candidate for council as a councillor, council chairperson or mayor of another political party, that is what is in our domain,” said Lubinda.

“So the statement that was made by Peter Chanda remains a political statement for the NCP not for PF. We will only be able to make decisions, once and if our member goes out and makes a statement or when we see evidence that our member has offered themselves and accepted to be a member of another political party.

He [Makebi Zulu] actually spoke to the president of the Patriotic Front and dissociated himself from that statement. He still remains a member in good standing with the Patriotic Front”.

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