MUTALE Nalumango wonders what the PF is preparing the country for over President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility to contest the presidency a third time having been elected twice to the same office.
In a statement, the UPND vice-president further wondered what had become of justice minister Given Lubinda.
She said the UPND was asking questions because it still had some measure of respect for Lubinda as one of the individuals in the PF government who uses reason to analyse national issues.
Nalumango, however, questioned Lubinda’s statement on the floor of Parliament on Thursday March 4, that anyone trying to petition President Lungu’s eligibility was threatening Zambia’s peace.
She said such statement planted doubt in the UPND about its view of Lubinda.
“Debating President Lungu’s address on the progress made in the application of national values and principles, Lubinda said those planning to petition President Lungu’s eligibility were trying to create an environment of suspicion in the country. We are at pains to understand how the petitioning of outgoing President Edgar Lungu’s eligibility to contest this year’s presidential election can cause a security breach or compromise peace in the country,” Nalumango said. “What has happened to the democratic principles that Lubinda has always espoused? Is it because the President General’s hold to power beyond August 12 is being threatened by the legal system? Has it just dawned on Lubinda that the intending petitioners have solid arguments and are on the side of the law on Lungu’s eligibility, considering that he [Lungu] has already been sworn twice as Republican President?”
Nalumango also wondered what was wrong with the petitioners preparing their papers ahead of time.
She said Lubinda’s argument does not make political or legal sense because lawyers are not time bound on how much time they need to start preparing for a case of interest.
Nalumango said a politician of Lubinda’s experience ought to know that politicians were in a competition to take over or retain power using legal strategies that appeal to the voters in an election.
“The justice minister should avoid threatening the opposition. Is there something the Patriotic Front is trying to prepare the country [for], in view of the expected outcome of the petition? To us, this is a collaborated position of the Patriotic Front because the Lusaka Province chairman Paul Moonga expressed similar sentiments when he addressed a media briefing on Friday. We don’t believe that this is a mere coincidence of a position from the ruling party even if it doesn’t make any sense at all,” she said.
Nalumango, a former deputy speaker of the national assembly, said the UPND, being the government-in-waiting, cherishes the country’s peace because it believes that it was the foundation on which it shall deliver real development that people have been deprived of over the years the PF has been in government.
“We make an undertaking to rid this country of corruption and theft of public resources when we assume the reins of power in a few months. Our people deserve the full restoration of their dignity, which has been taken away by the PF due to unbridled greediness,” she said.
Nalumango said it was also a matter of fact that regions perceived to be opposition strongholds had challenges registering as many voters as needed compared to areas perceived to be PF strongholds.
She said Lubinda should be the last person to curtail citizens’ freedom to discuss issues that affect them in one way or the other.
“Democracy is about tolerance of divergent views, Mr Minister sir,” said Nalumango.