. Lungu

By JAMES KUNDA in KABOMPO –
PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu says the the Patriotic Front (PF) has met all the tenets of democratic national and intra-party governance enshrined in the Zambian Constitution. Mr Lungu said Article 60 sub-articles 1 and 2 of the Constitution recommended that a political party regularly holds democratic intra-party elections to elect new leadership.
He said the Constitution stated that each party should uphold Zambia’s national character by embracing ‘all comers’ and enabling them to participate in all intra-party matters.
President Lungu said the supreme law of the land also demanded that
aggrieved members of political parties had a right to seek redress in the courts of law and challenge any party decision against them.
He said his ascendancy to the presidency after the death of President Michael Sata was testimony that intra-party democracy in the PF was not lip service and could not be compared to other political parties on the local front.
“PF is the only party -past and present – that has adhered to these provisions. In other political parties, it is a single genius running
the show and its leader is wamuyayaya (perpetual). No party – past or present – has demonstrated such transparency in electing its leaders, and Zambians can only trust a democratic party,” the President said.
Mr Lungu, who is also PF President, said this when he officially opened a PF elective North-Western Province conference yesterday.
The event was called to select new office-bearers on the provincial committee.
Mr Lungu said the occasion was momentous as it signified how consistently the PF practiced democracy across its hierarchy.
He urged the incoming office-bearers to ensure that they used their tenure of office to grow the party in the region ahead of the 2021 elections.
President Lungu said this was because the elective conference was the rebirth of the party in the region and that the new leaders should serve the people above themselves.
“This talk that North-Western Province is a no-go area for PF should end because we are the ruling party and this is our time to govern,” Mr Lungu said.
The President said the PF had in the last 16 years of existence, and six in Government, fared well on a solid foundation of ‘pro-poorness’.
Mr Lungu committed the ruling party’s resolve to continue upholding national unity through enhanced intraparty dialogue.