By CHUSA SICHONE –
THE MMD says the endorsement of President Edgar Lungu by its members in Eastern Province and Rufunsa District ahead of the general elections in August this year, is not an indication that the former ruling party is in an alliance with the Patriotic Front (PF).
Party acting spokesperson Reuben Sambo’s remarks came in the wake of Members of Parliament (MPs) and the general membership in Eastern Province and Rufunsa District who publicly rallied behind Mr Lungu as their preferred presidential candidate on August 11, 2016.
Reverend Sambo said the MMD members who endorsed President Lungu at Mpezeni Square in Chipata last week on Sunday, did that in their personal capacity as talks between his party and the PF to form an alliance had not been concluded.
“The position of the party on those Members of Parliament who have endorsed President Lungu is that, it was done in their individual capacity and therefore, it must not be misconstrued to mean that the party is in an alliance with the Patriotic Front.
“The party (MMD) will make its position very clear soon on the proposed alliance. You know that Parliament will be dissolved in the next three weeks and so Members of Parliament are just in that space as well where they need to make their choices politically. That is what is influencing these endorsements,” he said.
Reverend Sambo urged the Judiciary to assist politicians in the country to define the meaning of ‘endorsement’ and its difference from defection.
He challenged politicians belonging to a particular party who were endorsing a presidential candidate of another party to have the courage to either defect to or stay within their parties and support their leadership.