The ruling PF has sensationally u-turned on its support of controversial proposals in the National Dialogue Forum.
The PF has released a statement through its Media Director Sunday Chanda which it is calling official position on the NDF.
In a turn of events, the PF whose members and officials passionately defended the controversial resolutions now opposes almost the entire list of controversial proposals.
The party said it supports the Christian Nation provision as it stands in the current Constitution without any amendments.
“We say NO to Deputy Ministers. We say NO to Coalition Government,” the brief statement read.
“We say YES to Mixed Member Proportional Representation to ensure the inclusion of youths, women and the disabled. We AGREE that the time for a Presidential Petition must be increased from 14 days to 30 Calendar Days.”
“We AGREE that Mayors and Council Chairpersons must be elected from among the councillors to save unnecessary costly elections since these officers enjoy no special executive powers.”
Below is the Press release
Press Statement by PF Secretary General Hon. Davies Mwila following the Central Committee’s sitting on 15th July 2019
INTRODUCTION
On the 8th of July, 2019, the Central Committee of the Patriotic Front chaired by the Party and Republican President His Excellency Mr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu met and deliberated on amongst other things the proposed amendments in the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2019. The deliberations and resolutions were informed by the wide consultation that had been taken within the party structures as well as with the Zambian people.
The Party is aware of the lies, the malice and falsehoods being championed by the Opposition and their surrogates in the Civil Society and some sections of the media against Patriotic Front and its leadership regarding the various NDF Resolutions.
Let me state that as a matter of principle, Patriotic Front remains committed to the ideal that we embrace criticism in whatever form and shape it comes but we shall not glorify lies and cheap propaganda at the expense of truth.
From the onset, let me state that the Party salutes the men and women, including youth, from all walks of life that participated in the NDF and made the resolutions that they did. The NDF was not a PF gathering. It was a sitting of the people, the Zambian people. In this regard, let me announce that the Party shall appear before the Parliamentary Committee to give its official position as adopted by the Central Committee.
PF POSITION ON RESPECTIVE RESOLUTIONS
The Resolutions on the proposed amendments are as follows;
1. The proposal to amend the Preamble by the deletion of the word “multi religious” and substitution therefore of the word “Christian” is not supported and by the same token the proposal contained in Article 4 of the Amendment Bill to include the word Christian in the description of the Republic is also not supported. The Preamble, Article 4(3) and Article 8 of the Constitution are to remain as they are. The Bill of Rights still protects the freedom to religion.
2. The proposal to change the electoral system for election of Members of Parliament under Article 47(2) by the inclusion of a mixed member proportional representational system to include marginalised groups such as the disabled and women is supported. This will foster greater inclusion and provide a platform for marginalised voices in our community to participate in Governance.
3. The proposal to amend the system on voting of the President to include the possibility of forming of a coalition government is not supported. In that regard Articles 101 and 102 are to remain as they appear in the current Constitution. The President should draw his or her mandate directly from the majority of the people.
4. The proposal to amend Article 103 and in particular to increase the time for the hearing of a Presidential Election Petition from 14 to 30 days is supported. This will afford the parties time to present their respective cases
5. The proposals to amend Articles 112 and include a new Article 117A so as to create the office of Deputy Minister is not supported. The PF Government is still committed to a lean Government.
6. The proposal to amend Article 116 by the inclusion of a new sub article 4 to entitle Ministers to continue holding office until a new Government is elected is supported. This will enable the Executive Government to continue performing its functions without any lacuna or disruption.
7. The proposal to repeal Articles 69, 70, 71 and 72 are supported and by variation, the Central Committee proposes that the period in which a civil servant is required to cease being a civil servant before seeking election to political office be reduced from 2 years to 6 months.
8. Local Government: The Patriotic Front believes in effective and efficient representation of the people through the councillors at a local level. The party is alive to fact that Councils are collectively run by Councillors who are responsible to the people in performance of their functions. We also cognisant of the critical role a mayor and council Chairperson must play in discharging the collective leadership of councils through councillors. The Party therefore supports the election of mayors and Council Chairpersons from among councilors as they will not only be answerable to people in a ward but also to body of councillors and MPs in the entire district who run the Council as whole
9. The proposal to amend Article 127 by the inclusion of the Chief Justice as a member of the Constitutional Court is supported and by this the Central Committee agrees that the two Courts should continue to exist as separate and independent Courts under the leadership of the Chief Justice.
Patriotic Front wishes to call out and shame those politically inclined and hired civil society voices and armchair critics parading themselves as activists and opinion leaders without any mandate from anyone whatsoever and who are earning a living from misrepresenting PF’s position with regard to the NDF resolutions to give the Zambian people a break. Enough of your lies, falsehoods and fake news.
We hope that your misrepresentations of the Patriotic Front regarding NDF resolutions comes ends after this Press briefing.
We look forward to appearing before the Parliamentary Committee and we shall ensure that our appearance is live on radio, television and online in order to avoid distortions and falsehoods regarding our stance as a Party. The principle is that PF will at all times remain on the side of the people as we have demonstrated on several occasions even in the case of KCM!
Let me emphasize that we owe our mandate to the Zambian people, from all the ten (10) Provinces, including those who never voted for us. We owe our mandate to govern to the miners, farmers, marketeers, barbershop owners, salon owners, domestic workers, youths from all walks of life, students, teachers, nurses, suppliers and contractors and civil servants, among others to whom we owe our mandate to govern. We always take time to listen to our people including those who have been continuously fed on deceit.
CONCLUSION
Let me thank His Excellency the President Dr. Edgar Chagwa Lungu, for keeping his word that our constitutional reforms will be people-driven at all times. We will never leave the people behind in this endeavour!
Thank you
Then it was an exercise in futility.
I don’t know how Parliamentarians will be voting on that list of proposals; needless to state that if your colleagues also say they reject 3 quarters of the entire proposal. Hear them. Then put Lubinda to task for wasting tax payers money.
That is democracy.
Very true. Three quarters of those NDF resolutions are useless.it is very good that the PF have come to their senses especially on the issue of Deputy Ministers
So that conference they held is now (rightly so) null and void.
I bet these PF thieves were drunk when they supported having deputy ministers. Now that they are sober, they have made a quick u-turn.
In the meantime, allowances have been paid left, right and center.
There are very few things Lungu is good at. Nearer the top of this small list is wastage (of public finances).
Blame sleepy head Margaret
The idea of a Coalition Government was supposed to avoid rerun. Who ever proposed a 50% + 1 did not foresee a situation where you could also end up with an endless rerun state of affair. An endless loop.
I support a Coalition Government that makes you pull votes with other parties to reach the notorious and problematic 50% + 1 with our altitude. I still miss simple majority rule. Its good for our melanin.
So who has the final say?
If MPs are the final say, the deads MPs have fiven you a word that they will democratically shoot it down.
Trying too hard to cover up moaning Mumbi Phiri firing.
PF did you find who fought with Given Lubinda at Kabwata market, who won the fight?
Well done PF. But why did PF GRZ had spend a lot money for this unnecessary jaunt?
Mumbi Phiri fired from parliament kekekeke.
Davies Mwila trying too hard to kiss someone boots so his job not given to Mumbi.
Davies Mwila instructed violence in Kabwata, Ba Edgar is upset with that.
Why do u want to blame Lubinda? The ministry of Justice merely facilitated the conference and documented the submissions from stakeholders? Remember also that the NDF was not a PF rally but an assembly of people from various institutions and organisations.The PF was just one of the many organisation that participated in the conference. You may also wish to know that on the NDF agenda was the republican constitution amendments,Political parties,Electoral process and public order bills.The electoral process bill has since been present to parliament for further scrutiny and subsequent enactment.And am sure,the public order bill will equally be presented to parliament soon.Are there any good resolutions from NDF? Yes/No.We should move forward with the good ones and relegate/drop the bad ones…
@[Thorn in the Flesh], how can you have endless reruns when only the top 2 candidates are allowed to compete in a rerun? How do you have 2 candidates and fail to have one of them having 50% +1 votes? Mmmh!!
What a bunch of jokers.
Sometimes its better to give waste case scenarios (wcs) and near impossibilities a little thought; as a sure way to avoid constitutional overheads, incompleteness and eminent lacunas.
A Constitutional clause aught to be watertight.
Really laughable ….what did we tell you it had to take Bo Lubinda to be clobbered nicely and people rejoicing for all this to sink in, there is still a lot of nonsense in there that should not be tabled at all.
The wasted a lot of taxpayers money paying rats like Tayali and Co.
It is alvays better not to show inbreed 1mbecility (like yours) in public!!!
Thorn in the a$$ – You are small naive blind boys who never learn..we tell you that our interests is for the betterment of our country but you assume we are opposition …look at yourselves eating your own vomit on the Maggie appointment and now this ..what did that lazy thiing in State House say at the airport…he said NDF will go on despite criticism look at this now.
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PF opposes reintroduction of Deputy Ministers and coalition government
July 15, 20192,929 views37
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PF Secretary General Davies Mwila during the media Briefing
PF Secretary General Davies Mwila during the media Briefing
The ruling PF has sensationally u-turned on its support of controversial proposals in the National Dialogue Forum.
The PF has released a statement through its Media Director Sunday Chanda which it is calling official position on the NDF.
In a turn of events, the PF whose members and officials passionately defended the controversial resolutions now opposes almost the entire list of controversial proposals.
The party said it supports the Christian Nation provision as it stands in the current Constitution without…
Jay gay hay bay quay qay xay gay
Nigga, no one told your a** that it’s gonna be easy out there.
We gotta roll kid.
No one told your smelly ego a** that it’s gonna be an easy ride.
Both Lubinda and Margaret are human beings just like you nigga. They err just like you. They won just like you would like. They feel good after victory just like you would like nigga. Deal with it.
The world has not ended.
It’s rough and tough being opposition. Better still try the non aligned stance bigot.
Go get your nappy checked. Have you gotten yourself soiled? Damn it nigga!
Create a chaos and then turn around to quell it and trying to make yourself as reasonable.
Its clear that you think this is a game where you can make as many costly mistakes as possible then compete again next year…millions of dollars are wasted meant for front line services on these useless projects, you think one can simply procure 2000 solar hammermills for $200m for them to gather dust in villages.
By the way I am not your Ni%%%, use that language in our whatsapp groups with your fellow fooolish friends!!
ECL and PF are doing a Dununa Reverse becoz they now realize the NDF Amendment Bill will not be supported by PF MPs and UPND MPs. Lubinda was clobbered in his own Constituency in Kabwata. Any MP who will support the NDF Amendment Bill risks being clobbered by Patriotic Zambians. ECL is scared of events in Malawi on the current Electoral Dispute. The writing is on the Wall.
Good move PF guys.
They just used that conference to distract citizens.
PF leadership is truly inept.
This komboni politics is killing our country.
Nandi – You are truly gullible …ask them how much was spent on that NDF? Next time you Lubinda ask him
professional Chipante-pante cretins
This is LUNGU’S PF chipaantepaante government for you!
100% no vision!
Someone must account for the wasted rresources. A hot fart , that’s all.
There is no u-turn whatsover.The NDF was not a PF gathering but a meeting comprising of different stakeholders and people from different walks of life.What PF critics have always failed to do is draw a distinction between govt programs and PF as a party.Those who followed the NDF deliberations will remember how PF members and MPs submitted opposing views from each other on various issues.
NDFwas gathering of PF and theirs arse l1ckers. Professional crooks meeting theirs supporters.
Yaba! This is not fair, I even printed Business Cards as Deputy Minister Ministry of Finance!!
This makes the guys at YALI look like total I’d!@ts.
That’s what happens when you throw professionalism out of the window for appeasement…. you look foooolish.
The entire document should e shelved. Thanks to PF cadres who showed us that real power is with the people and not ministers
“Dr” Edgar Chagwa Lungu, kabili? Didn’t he say he will not use such a title? I thought the PF party should be the first to put into effect the wishes of their party president?
Olo kapena vinachinja vintu?
The PF are afraid of totally losing 2021 if they had gone along with the useless NDF resolutions as these resolutions were a total reverse of all our democratic achievements.In fact, the Opposition Alliance and civil society that boycotted the NDF have worn a great victory.The biggest losers are the mostly one-man PF satelite parties that thought they could come into government on the shoulders of PF. The likes of Pastor Chanda,Danny Pule,Cosmo Mumba, Nakachinda, what shall become of them now?
Dununa reverse. Money wasted again. Are we sure we have the right government in place.
lets face it, the NDF was very necessary and such gaterings a welcome even in the future. it clearly shows that meeting and deliberating on issues is so informing as there woudnt have been these results whether positive or negative. how else are we going to discuss issues if we say they are not necessary anyway ?lets not forget that none of us would have known ours and other peoples thinking on such issues as were discussed at the NDF if it was not there after all. I though this is democracy to hear divergent views in whatever form they come. my thinking is that whether PF, UPND,NDC,MMD UNIP, NON-PARTISAN, BEMBA , TONGA KAONDE LOZI etc we all have equal rights and opportunities to democratically assemble and deliberate as it where, and NDF was just such and opportunity. those who ddnt…
Exactly.You have spoken my mind.It is also important to note that only 4 out of the 14 amendments have been rejected by PF,meaning therefore that they agree with the remaining 10.I therefore appeal to my fellow Zambians not to rubbish the NDF,that gathering was necessary.
What is mwanza (ex fdd) Going to say now,he defended those amendments,prime tv bring these guys on tv for another debate,I guess they have No shame at all as evidenced by pf cadres comments on this site.
Good decisoion but this makes the opposition irrelevant if the PF such making sensible decisions. We want them to continue making bad decisions so that we can ensure thier loss in 2021. If the President then goes ahead and fires corrupt ministers and starts holding press conferences explaining his vision that will be the end of UPND.
PRESSURE
It is not that they noticed anything wrong these crooks. They have been caught pants down and now they are trying to pretend that they are with the people. A constitution is a national document and they wanted to pull a quick one.
Patriotic Zambian, too late for lungu damage done. You want him to fire corrupt minister he is eating with that is going to blow up in his face. You want him to hold press conferences and say what when has no vision. Pf is on self destruction mode, too many bad decisions, corruption, pride and a worst economy you failing to manage
Nigga, no one told your azs that it’s gonna be easy out there.
We gotta roll kid.
No one told your smelly ego a$$ that it’s gonna be an easy ride.
Both Lubinda and Margaret are human being just like you nigga. They err just like you. They won just like you would like. They feel good after victory just like you would like nigga. Deal with it.
The world has not ended.
It’s rough and tough being opposition. Better still try the non aligned stance bigot.
Go get your nappy checked. Have you gotten yourself soiled? Damn it nigga!
Jay gay gay qay
I think I love what I have read. The party has a position different from govt. Good for democracy. It must have taken courage to u-turn on the initial position. This gives a glimmer of hope for Zambian democracy.
All you PF supporters must for once lick your wounds and apologize to fellow citizens. Simple. Look at how you have waffled on sales tax, on Zesco tariff increases, CBU reopening and now that mental asylum gathering called NDF. Stop pretending that you did not support those clauses and simply admit that the NGOs and lately the largely dead LAZ have punched you big time.
In debate or dialogue as it was called, it is necessary to be a devils advocate to spur the debate to all corners and assess all possibilities and intents, including of wolves. This was done effectively at the Forum.
But you cannot become a devils’ advocate for good lest you become like one opposition leader who has actually become a devil worshipper with the hope that Lucifer can help him topple a God chosen Government.
White collar theft! Children are not interested in your powers,butgive them education only.OPEN CBU NOW….
What the NDF achieved is democracy the people who attended exercised their democratic right without being opressed. Same as those who refused to attend. Believe it or not,it goes to show you that ZED is one of the most democratic countries in the world.