By KAIKO NAMUSA and MOFFAT CHAZINGWA –

OPPOSITION United Party for National Development (UPND) Sinazongwe Member of Parliament, Richwell Siamunene has said the planned opposition alliance will be futile as it is only intended to fight the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).

But MMD leader Nevers Mumba has said there is no need for anyone to be afraid of political parties working together for a common agenda.

Mr Siamunene, who is Commerce, Trade and Industry Deputy Minister, said opposition alliances had failed in Zambia.

He said the planned alliance between the MMD and UPND would be another union doomed to fail.

Mr Siamunene said in an interview in Lusaka that the opposition was not proving its value by providing solutions to critical national issues.
“Alliances have failed to work in the past and it is the same in this case, the planned alliance will fail.

“Its sole purpose is to remove the ruling party from power and that only shows the greed by opposition politicians. An alliance should be born out of a conviction and not the desire to fight an individual or the ruling party,” he said.
He said he was yet to see the opposition offer tangible solutions to national issues instead of engaging in armchair criticisms.
Mr Siamunene said the role of the opposition was to provide alternative solutions to Government and not continued criticism even where Government was performing to the expectation of the people.

However, Dr Mumba said that the biggest alliance the PF Government should be afraid of was not political parties joining forces, but the Zambian people joining hands to vote against it in the 2016 elections.
Dr Mumba said the alliance to remove PF from power would be that of people and not of political parties.
He said this in Kitwe yesterday when he visited his Victory Ministries Church in Parklands area where he delivered a sermon.
Dr Mumba sad MMD’s goal at the moment was to demonstrate to the electorate that the party was committed to doing what was good for the nation.

“If forming an alliance comes to the greater good of the nation, then we as MMD will not shy away,” he said.

Dr Mumba said criticisms about alliances not working would always be there but that what was important was for political parties to remain focused.