By Isaac Zulu
Southern Province minister Cornelius Mweetwa has said that the UPND can never be threatened by the would-be candidature of Edgar Lungu, saying the UPND leadership cannot waste time talking about a former Head of State was rejected by the Court of social justice, which pronounces itself through a verdict of a ballot.
PF aspirant Greyford Monde said that the UPND is threatened by the would-be candidature of Edgar Lungu and are creating a narrative that the former Head of State wants to come back on the political platform, thereby creating some level of animosity in the Patriot Front with the view to unsettle the PF.
But Mweetwa, who is also UPND spokesperson, said that the UPND leadership would not dwelve in some discourse regarding the would-be candidature of Edgar Lungu because the man was defeated by the now ruling party at a time when he had the power of incumbency, had a lot of sponsors and money at his disposal.
“How can we be threatened by president Edgar Lungu who we defeated at the time he had the power of incumbency, he had a lot of sponsors sand the money at his disposal? President Edgar Lungu served his term, but the Patriot Front tried to push him to go for what I would call a dubious third term, which he did not even qualify for, but the Zambian people stopped him through the ballot. Yes, we insist that there are Courts of Law and lawyers to interpret the law, but when it matters most, when it comes to assuming public office, the Court of social justice; which pronounces itself through a verdict of the ballot makes a final decision,” Mweetwa said in an interview. “So we cannot be scared of a party president who was shown a political exit door.”
He said that the only thing that the UPND is scared of about the PF are political violence, corruption and tribalism, among other vices, that he said were being publicly peddled by the former ruling party.
“The only things we are scared of about the PF and president Edgar Lungu are the levels of political violence, corruption, division, nepotism and tribalism which the Patriot Front publicly peddled,” Mweetwa explained. “In the run up to the general elections PF tribal sentiments were worse. During campaigns they even went to an extent of hiring a former minister Chishimba Kambwili as a mercenary of tribal politics. We are scared of having a situation where Patriot Front party cadres were jumping on mattresses with money, while majority citizens were struggling to put food on the table. Those are the things that scare us because we feel that such a political party should not be near the corridors of governing the country. Instead of having party cadres splashing money around when others are struggling, we feel that such money should be channeled towards paying (University) student meal allowances and critical needy areas in the CDF (Constituency Development Fund).
And Mweetwa said that the fact that the Patriot Front is lamenting that the UPND is creating some level of animosity in the PF is an indication that the Patriot Front is a weak political party.
He explained that the UPND stayed in opposition for more than two decades, but it was not infiltrated by the ruling party, then PF.
“If we are creating some animosity in the PF then we can say that the Patriot Front is a very weak political party. We stayed in opposition for so many years, but our party was not infiltrated by the ruling party because we are immune to corruption. That’s all,” said Mweetwa.
