UPND Chairman for Labour Mr Gabriel Namulambe has resigned from his position and party, citing the opposition party’s demand that he should apologise for supporting the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10 of 2019.
He announced his resignation at a media briefing in Luanshya this afternoon.
Mr Namulambe said he finds Bill 10 progressive and therefore has no reason to reject it and clearly indicated that he will not apologise to the UPND over his support for the Bill.
He said the Members of Parliament have a constitutional duty to put the interest of the people first than a political party.
“Since they have told me to apologise for the statement I made on Bill 10, I have opted to remain with the Zambian people who are in support of Bill 10. I have read the Bill, it is unfortunate that some MPs walk out without debating the Bill,” Mr Namulambe, the former Mpongwe MP and deputy foreign affairs minister said.
“As former Member of Parliament in Mpongwe, I want to see Bill 10 pass because it will ensure that the rural constituencies on the Copperbelt such as Mpongwe, Lufwanyama and Masaiti are realigned to create more constituencies.”
He said Bill 10 has many good clauses which include the recognition of Chiefs and delimitation of large constituencies.
Mr Namulambe has praised government for being transparent in the way it has handled Bill 10 and urged opposition Members of Parliament to stop walking out of Parliament when the Bill is being discussed because they need to put across their arguments.