By Staff Reporter
PF presidential aspirant Brian Mundubile says fears that he will only be there as a caretaker president for former president Edgar Lungu to take over and contest the 2026 elections, are unfounded as the constitution does not allow that.
Asked on assertions from within the PF that he enjoys the support of former president Lungu, who is said to be pouring resources into his campaigns with the understanding that he (Mundubile) would only be there to serve for a period and leave Lungu to contest the 2026 elections as PF candidate, Mundubile said president Lungu has made it clear to everybody that he will go with whoever the people vote for.
He said he has not gotten any money from president Lungu to help his campaign, saying if there was any activity he has financed in the party, it was purely from his own resources and not president Lungu.
He felt that in a competition people would come up with all sorts of reasons, but his character and conduct as regards party activities was what he has done in the past and has continued doing, and that that was the other advantage he was coming with in terms of consistency.
“So others may feel because of that consistency they may feel maybe that advantage that I have to offer some support is as a result of some assistance I am getting externally. That is not true,” Mundubile said. “I feel I must continue to support the party silently. I may not be as loud in terms of cameras and so on like others but that is what we have been doing in the background.”
He said there was no provision under the party constitution requiring one to transfer the PF presidency as if it was a chiefdom, saying even for “those of our colleagues who believe that that’s what is happening it’s very sad. They may not be very familiar with what our constitution says.”
“At the moment what the constitution says is that the party president will also be the presidential candidate. That is what the constitution says at the moment. So because of that that assertion just falls off naturally, unless people intend to change the constitution for whatever reason,” said Mundubile. “But where we stand now, the position is that the party president also is the presidential candidate in the general election. So those fears you can actually advise those of our colleagues that are thinking like that that their fears are unfounded because the constitution will not allow it
Mundubile said he has served in several roles in the party, from being member of central committee committee, chairing the legal committee of the party for five years, provincial minister, government chief whip and now leader of the opposition in parliament.
He said he also chaired the committee that dealt with petitions countrywide, saying he has a fair appreciation of the party and its activities across the country, adding that the interactions he has had with various structures of the party in the recent past made him feel that he brought value and a difference in terms of how he understood issues.
Mundubile said if given the opportunity to head the party, he would steer it in a new direction, claiming that being a peacemaker was one of his many personal attributes.
He said in saying so he was not underrating any opponent as every opponent participating in the race brought value to the table because they were leaders and individually they have done work for the party.
