UPND IN CHIPATA FALLS
…as Patriotic Front Member of the Central Committee Hon Joe Malanji says people continue to be attracted to the pro-poor ideologies of PF
CHIPATA, Sunday, May 30, 2021 (SMART EAGLES)
OPPOSITION United Party for National Development (UPND) Chipata Central aspiring candidate in the run up to the 2021 general election Intra-party adoptions Nedson Undi has described belonging to the opposition political party as a curse.
Mr Undi, a businessman from Eastern Province, said he and his colleagues had sacrificed a lot for the opposition party in the Province but it had never appreciated their efforts.
Speaking when he and and 99 other officials ditched the UPND to join PF in Chipata yesterday, he said the party leadership does not respect the will of the people on the ground and was fond of imposing its decisions on party members which was very frustrating.
“Me and my colleagues had been wondering why the party had been in opposition for more than 22 years. When they lose this August 12 general elections, they will be guaranteed of 27 years of being in the opposition,” Mr Undi said.
He said they sat down with his colleagues and analysed the massive unprecedented development that had been rolled out by President Edgar Chagwa Lungu and decided to join the ruling party.
Mr Undi stressed that the opposition UPND in Eastern Province had promoted so much tribalism starting with the Provincial leadership thereby defeating the concept of Zambia being a diverse ethnic country.
“We are tired of belonging to a political party that does not respect ethnic diversity. My colleagues and I are very frustrated with the UPND leadership hence our desire to join the winning team,” he said.
He added that it was time to support President Lungu so that he could finish up on his developmental agenda in his last tenure of office.
And ruling Patriotic Front (PF) Member of the Central Committee (MCC) Hon Joseph Malanji has charged that the mass exodus of people from the opposition UPND to the PF was a clear sign that the opposition political party is not ready to govern the nation.
Speaking when he received the defectors in Chipata Central, Hon Malanji said the opposition party had recorded a number of key losses in their membership to the PF since 2016 due to their failed leadership.
MCC Malanji has said a lot of people are attracted to the pro-poor ideologies of the PF as compared to the opposition party which does not have a clear stance on how it intends to run government when voted into power.
“People are always attracted to the ideologies of a party long before they believe in the candidate. Our party has far much better ideologies which are making a number of key political players to leave the opposition and join the ruling party,” Hon Malanji said said.
He said the general membership of UPND had gotten tired that the party had failed to form government since 1998 and people had lost hope in the future of the Party that had been in opposition for more than 20 years.
Also in attendance was PF Presidential Campaign Manager for Eastern Province Hon Vincent Mwale, Provincial Chairperson Alexander Miti, PF Chipata Central aspiring candidate Amon Jere, PF aspiring Mayor for Chipata City William Phiri and former Eastern Province Permanent Secretary Chanda Kasolo.
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