By Esther Chisola
Information minister Cornelius Mweetwa has advised the former president Edgar Lungu’s faction of the PF to stop day-dreaming about Lungu standing in 2026, but instead identify another leader who will lead them into the general elections next year.
Speaking with Daily Revelation on Monday, Mweetwa said the opposition PF were day-dreaming by insisting on having the former president as their presidential candidate because he would not be allowed to file in the nomination papers by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to contest as president, on account of being barred by the Constitutional Court.
“That is wishful thinking. That is day-dreaming,” Mweetwa said. “We are a country of laws and when you go to elections, there are qualifications, and the ECZ will pronounce those who are qualified. And it’s not us as UPND to stop anybody, no! It is the law. Many people would like to stand as president but some do not have the qualification. For instance, some will not manage to raise the requisite number of supporters to take to the High Court. Haven’t you seen candidates fail to file at the High Court because they don’t have the requisite number of supporters to lodge in their nominations? It means they are disqualified.”
Mweetwa urged the PF to stop wasting time.
“Let us leave those who are day-dreaming to continue day-dreaming, but time is ticking and time is coming for them to realise that they are wasting time. It is high time that they came together and identified a leader who is going to take that ship of theirs to the next station,” said Mweetwa.
And Mweetwa, who is also UPND spokesperson, urged against linking the UPND to the apparent disunity in PF.
On Saturday, PF vice-president Given Lubinda featured on Prime TV where he accused President Hakainde Hichilema of causing confusion in the opposition party by sponsoring and supporting faction groups led by PF Matero member of parliament Miles Sampa and Mafinga member, Robert Chabinga, respectively.
“That is just politics. And I repeat [that], when we were in the opposition ourselves there was a ruling party and it made a mark to destroy us. Despite appointing our MPs as ministers, we remained united and resolved,” Mweetwa said. “There is no single PF MP who has been appointed as a minister in order to demonstrate that we are destabilising the opposition.”
Mweetwa attributed the disunity in the PF “purely to their own indiscipline”.
“So, if on their own they can’t hold, they are indisciplined. They should keep their indiscipline to themselves. These are the same people they have failed to hold together. It is not our problem; it is their problem,” said Mweetwa. “It is not our business … and it should not be made to be our business to keep their peace and unity. We are not part of them. We are on our own and they are on their own. Why should we be made every day to account for their disunity?”
