UPND WORRIED THAT PF MAY NOT SURRENDER POWER AFTER DEFEAT – JACK MWIIMBU
FORMER Monze Central UPND member of parliament Jack Mwiimbu says the party is concerned that PF might not want to give up power even if they lose this year’s general elections by a huge margin.
And Mwiimbu has described President Edgar Lungu’s leadership as that of a dictator.
In an interview, Mwiimbu wondered why President Lungu wanted to dictate how the election period should be managed when he was also just a player in the game.
He added that President Lungu and the Electoral Commission of Zambia had no power whatsoever to cancel rallies in the country.
“We are witnessing very clear tendencies of dictatorship under the leadership of President Edgar Lungu. Members of the public must realise that President Lungu and the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) have no power whatsoever to cancel the rallies in this country under the circumstances. The law that guides the Electoral commission is the Constitution of Zambia, the Electoral Process Act of 2016 and there we have the regulations. And because of these regulations put by Parliament and other institutions, it is clear that President Lungu and the Electoral commission have no powers to do what they are doing now,” he said.
“Further President Lungu is a candidate and a player, he is not a referee to regulate elections in this country, only dictators are the ones that can give direction to the electoral commission and other institutions on how elections should be managed. These are clear traits of a dictator and a dictatorship should not be condoned in a country that thrives under the rule of law. We believe that Zambia has laws that govern this country and we should all abide by those. Anyone who goes against the laws and established procedures is a dictator and I have no doubt in my mind that President Lungu is a dictator under these circumstances.”
He further expressed displeasure on how ECZ handled the election period.
“President Lungu’s pronouncement to cancel rallies in this country has no backing of the law when it comes to elections. The institution that regulates elections in this country is the electoral commission, unfortunately the Electoral Commission of Zambia has been making very preposterous pronouncements pertaining to management of elections. You are aware that they have been threatening that elections can be cancelled because of the pandemic and imminent declaration of a state of emergency. The ECZ has no power to declare a state of emergency in this country. There is no parliament in this country and authority and power to declare a state of emergency is parliament, unless parliament is recalled to do so,” Mwiimbu said.
Meanwhile, Mwiimbu said UPND was worried that PF would not easily give up power even if they lost this year’s presidential elections by a huge margin.
“We are not afraid, we are concerned as a party and on behalf of the Zambian people that the PF even through an established electoral process may not want to give up power even when they lose with a big margin. They would want to resist. But we call upon the security wings of this country and Zambians at large to protect the integrity of the elections and the process that have been established by the laws of this country,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mwiimbu called on security institutions to be bold and stand on the side of the people by ensuring that law and order prevails in the country.
“From the time Zambia gained its independence to date, we have never had a situation where the rights of individuals and institutions have been eroded as it is now. During the reign of UNIP and MMD, any contestant in elections were given a free lane to sell themselves to the electorates without any hindrance. But under the PF what is obtained is impunity and a breakdown of law and order,” he said.
“The cadres of PF are reigning supreme. They are above the law, they cannot be controlled by anybody apart from President Lungu and this situation is very unfortunate and it is leading us to anarchy in this country. We call upon the security institutions in this country to be bold and stand on the side of the people and ensure that law and order reigns in the country otherwise we will be destroying our nation.”