By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE and JULIUS PHIRI –

•President Edgar Lungu shares a light moment with an old woman at Kapata Market in Chipata yesterday. Picture By SALIM HENRY/STATE HOUSE

THE Patriotic Front (PF) has extended a hand to the MMD with a view of the two parties working together ahead of the August 11 tripartite elections, President Edgar Lungu has said.
The President said yesterday that he had been exchanging notes through Short Messaging System (SMS) with MMD leader Nevers Mumba on the need to work together because MMD alone could not win elections. Mr Lungu was addressing PF officials in Chipata.
“This morning (yesterday) I was talking to Dr Mumba through SMS to say let’s work together,” the President said.
He said he was looking forward to a day when former president Rupiah Banda and Dr Mumba would work together in the MMD because all parties, including the PF, had some differences.
Mr Lungu paid tribute to Mr Banda saying he had helped him win elections when he worked with the PF in the last presidential election.
“I know without president Banda I would not have been President of this country. I will be happy to see president Banda and Dr Nevers Mumba make peace,” the Head of State said.
President Lungu asked PF members to embrace new ones in order for the party to manage the 50 per cent-plus-one threshold to avoid a re-run.
Mr Lungu said currently, Zambia did not deserve a re-run and that there was need for the people to vote en masse for the PF to avoid committing the country to a second election.
He also said that the issue of a running mate was not a problem but PF members should focus on building the party so that it could emerge victorious.
“I know people have been talking about the running mate, more especially my running mate, but this is not the biggest issue at all. I will choose someone who can run the affairs of the country even if I am outside the country. This does not imply that I will choose my friend but I know whom to choose at an appropriate time,” President Lungu said.
President Lungu also warned PF aspiring candidates to desist from tarnishing his name by saying that he had agreed to adopt them for elections.
He said he would rather pick a formidable team to contest the general elections from local government to parliamentary seats.
President Lungu said he would be glad to work with the Church, and that he had not yet gone through the pastoral letter from the Catholic bishops.
Speaking earlier, PF deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri said she was disturbed with the continued reports from Eastern Province that some people who wanted to be considered for adoption on the PF ticket were causing confusion.
Ms Phiri said such people were merely causing political violence instead of being patient until the right time as shown by President Lungu, who had managed to rise through the ranks.
The meeting was attended by Eastern Province Minister Malozo Sichone, Local Government Minister Stephen Kampyongo, State House Deputy Minister Mulenga Sata, Finance Deputy Minister Christopher Mvunga, Lumezi MP Isaac Banda and Luangeni MP Charles Zulu, among others.
Meanwhile, PF chairperson for information Frank Bwalya has castigated Matero MP Miles Sampa for alleging that the ruling party was finished.
Father Bwalya told the media in Chipata yesterday that Mr Sampa’s remarks were an insult to the PF because the ruling party had remained strong and united.
He said PF considered the claim by Mr Sampa as the biggest insult to the ruling party and the founding leader, late President Michael Sata’s legacy.