PeP STATEMENT No.25 ISSUED ON TUESDAY, 6th APRIL 2021: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1. As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) we are not going to get tired of reminding the Zambian people that this year’s 12th August general elections present a unique opportunity to change the course of this nation for better and forever. Additionally, the Zambian people ought to be reminded that neither the ruling PF nor the main opposition UPND have what it takes to turnaround the Zambian economy and put it on a path of growth, sustainability and prosperity.
2. On one hand, the consecutive failures of the PF Government are well documented and self-evident in the shrinkage of the economy from a GDP of about US$28 billion in 2011 to a GDP of only US$19 billion in 2020, the rapid decline in the exchange rate from about K5 per dollar in 2011 to K22 per dollar today, from an average inflation rate of 6% in 2011 to average inflation of 21% in 2021, high levels of poverty and squalor among citizens as well as insatiable corruption whereby individual senior Government officials are by far richer than the Government that they work for. Indeed, every reasonable Zambian should have no doubt in their minds that the Patriotic Front and its Government have failed Zambians in the past 10 years, and need to be retired in the national interest.
3. On the other hand, the UPND has been claiming to be an alternative government in waiting and yet it has not offered any documented alternative solutions to the many problems facing the nation. It is our considered view that only a political party that has been offering documented alternative solutions to the many economic and social problems facing the nation can claim to be an alternative government in waiting. The UPND falls far short of this threshold and cannot, therefore be considered as an alternative government. Unless of course the Zambian people would like to change government just for the sake of it, like we did in 2011. However, it is our strong view that a change of government should bring about positive change from bad to good and not negative change from bad to worse. Electing UPND into office would represent negative change. Every reasonable Zambian should have no doubt in their minds that a potential UPND Government is a disaster in waiting.
4. However, in the midst of so much apparent doom, the Zambian people should be reminded that the Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) and its leader Mr Sean Tembo are an alternative government in waiting, not by proclamation but by deeds. The Patriots for Economic Progress is the only political party in Zambia that has been consistently and continuously developing and presenting alternative solutions to the many national problems that have besieged this country. The Patriots for Economic Progress developed documented alternative national budgets for the fiscal years 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021 in which detailed solutions to various national problems were outlined. More recently, the Patriots for Economic Progress developed and presented an alternative 7th National Development Plan as well as an alternative Economic Recovery Plan. Should the Zambian people be gracious enough to entrust us with their votes and give us the mandate to preside over the affairs on this Republic on 12th August, these documented alternative solutions to national problems will constitute a blueprint of a Sean Tembo presidency. Indeed, for the first time in a very long time, the Zambian people have an alternative government that actually has alternative solutions. Not an alternative government by proclamation only such as the UPND.
5. As Patriots for Economic Progress, we firmly believe that the onus now lies in the hands of the Zambian people. They can either continue with the incompetent and corrupt PF Government which will take this country nowhere. Or they can replace the PF Government with an equally incompetent UPND government which is an alternative government with no alternative solutions. An alternative government by proclamation only and not deeds. Or the Zambian people can defy all odds and usher into office a competent, visionary, upstanding, diligent, patriotic, venerable but little-known Patriots for Economic Progress and its leader Mr Sean Tembo. The Zambian people should think critically in making this decision as their future and that of their children depends on the soundness of the decision that they will make on 12th August.
Thank You and May God Bless the Good Citizens of the Republic of Zambia and Our Ailing Nation.
YOURS SINCERELY
SEAN ENOCK TEMBO (SET)
PARTY PRESIDENT
PATRIOTS FOR ECONOMIC PROGRESS (PeP)