The PF-UPND pact has boasted that the launch of the pact last Saturday has overcome regional and tribal politics in Zambia, of which former president Fredrick Chiluba was the alleged architect.
And the PF-UPND pact has observed that Dr Chiluba is under threat because he knows that President Rupiah Banda, the only person who is shielding him from all his ill dealings whilst President, is slowly losing ground.
In an interview with QFM, PF-UPND co-spokesperson Charles Kakoma said Dr Chiluba and president Banda are talking the way they are talking about the relevance of the pact because they are panicking.
Mr Kakoma stressed that the coming together of the UPND and PF has countered regional and tribal politics.
Mr Kokoma who is also Zambezi west Member of Parliament accused Dr Chiluba of creating strides of regional politics through his malicious and questionable campaigns for President Rupiah Banda.
And Mr Kakoma has maintained that there is no urgency of announcing who will be the Pact’s presidential candidate because the date of the general elections has not been announced.
He said the pact is aware that the MMD wants the presidential candidate to be named so that they can direct their energies to de-campaigning him.
He stressed that the pact will not fall into the MMD’s cheap traps.
[Q FM]
Name the candidate so that you can prove that indeed tribal politics are over. Where is the manifesto and what does UPND think about their partner’s running of councils?
………AGONY is being kept in SUSPENSE about who the PACT PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS !!!!!!!! Those in a hurry to know can as well try Divination!!!!!!!!! :((:((:((:((:)):))
Why worry about the candidate when there are only three options 1. HH 2. SATA 3. BOTH. So MMD just needs to prepare for these two (three) candidates.
A group of brains coordinated in a spirit of harmony will provide more thought energy than a single brain, just as a group of electric batteries will provide more energy than a single battery
God Bless the pack…God bless the peace, God bless the unity of purpose
No need to hurry. Already we have seen Cifi(re) trying to malign HH.You will just develop BP by worrying over who is gonna head the PACT
There is no record of any great contribution to civilization without the cooperation of others.
Enthusiasm is contagious and teamwork is the inevitable result.
The bible tels us that for two is better than one. Ec4:-9
God has called us to unity at all times and do good to one another
1Cor1:1-10 AND Heb 13:16
Glaring omissions in the PF-UPND Pact launch
THE much-touted launch of the Patriotic Front-United Party for National Development Pact last Saturday is significant for its omission, not that it actually took place.
If the pact’s unofficial leader, Michael Sata, will want people to believe that the launch itself spells success, then it is clear why he has been the nearly-man in the past three elections.
Mr Sata, for some strange reason, appears unable to see past the clenched fists of rally crowds and has been bewildered when election results are tallied and he has lost.
Mr Sata does not seem to have learnt that there is a difference between a mob and a group of disciples, especially relating to the effect they have on the “undecided” thousands.
The mob (that his PF cadres largely represent) is off-putting by their garrulous arrogance.
Disciples, on the other hand, go about their business quietly engaging people and convincing potential supporters by their force of reason.
It is clear that in the matter of the launch of the pact, Mr Sata and his junior partner Hakainde Hichilema, would want people to believe that Saturday was a landmark event.
And it could have been had the group faced up to reality and addressed the issues the public has been craving to understand.
The two leaders must surely know that people, both supporters and opponents want to know who will lead the pact in the 2011 presidential election.
But Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema have shown both indecision and fear over this matter.
Street wisdom is that there exists a visceral fear that the choice of Mr Sata could fracture the UPND and actually spell the end of Mr Hichilema’s leadership of the party.
Even now, there is a very likely prospect that Mr Hichilema could find himself with only his urban supporters because the grassroots in Southern Province, his putative stronghold, is growing increasingly restive about his willingness to subordinate himself to Mr Sata.
The pact launch could, therefore, have had great significance had it been used to announce the decision of who would be put up as presidential candidate. Omission of this is unhealthy.
It cannot be masked by emotive analogies to marriage.
Even a marriage has to face its ugly facts or realities, otherwise it degenerates into a dangerous and unhappy pretence.
The two leaders should not pretend that the choice of candidate does not matter because “the people of Zambia want change”. It does, and the sooner they face up to this matter, the better for everyone.
Its omission from the launch on Saturday rendered the whole exercise a pointless rally to spew out regurgitated platitudes.
The second omission was no announcement of the work of the nine committees that were set up earlier to prepare for the launch.
Part of the work of the committees was to harmonise the manifestos of the two parties, and advise on integration.
It now appears that the work of the committees was announced simply to buy time and prevent the two parties from being stampeded into a hasty launch.
This appears to have failed because the launch appears to have been done hastily, hence the omission of these two important aspects.
This also points to the fact there must be a real difficulty in integrating the manifestos of the two parties. As former PF secretary general Edward Mumbi said, the PF has no manifesto to talk about, whereas the UPND’s document was authored by some of this country’s best intellectuals working under the leadership of late Anderson Mazoka.
You have to agree with Mr Mumbi that this launch was merely cosmetic.The most important questions still remain unanswered.
#14 What is a Manifesto if it cannot be translated into reality?. We made a good Manifesto in MMD. But where is it now? Down the toilet I am sure. We made a very good party consititution for MMD. Who is following it? May be Dean Mung’omba(MHSRIP). So dont talk about things that you yourself have failed to respect. Our Manifesto is engraved in our hearts- to be considrate to all human beings.Like Shikapwasha MWATA you are talking as if you are addressing 1 year olds- dull ones for that matter.
Even if they do not want to announce the leader just yet, it would have been a step forward for them to at least present a manifesto. Is there a new slogan and logo that will be used next year?
#15 So you are saying that the populace should not be informed as to what they should vote for?How then will we make them accountable in relation to what they promised? If PF/UPND are better alternatives for Zambia, surely by extension, one would expect them to be better at implementing what they have promised the Zambian people? So basically you are saying that we should just vote for pact because it is the pact and not expect them to present a vision of the kind of Zambia they want to see? I think that is asking too much of me as a Zambian voter especially as I still have reservations of Sata entering state house. I will not cast my vote blindly as it is too precious and I like to make informed decisions on who is going to lead the country we all love so much.
#17 Elyoni Sansakuwa – If you cared to read between the line you will have noticed that I was asking the MMD supporter what has happened to the good documents that we made in MMD. In short I was reminding him to remove a log from MMD eye before talking about a speck in the PACTS eyes. The other thing Mr. Sata will give a chance to HH but wont reveal it now until the right moment. You have already seen how now MMD gansters have strained their guns on young HH.