PRESS STATEMENT BY AN ALLIANCE OF OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES IN ZAMBIA THEME: SAVE ZAMBIA, ZAMBIA DESERVES BETTER JANUARY 24, 2014 HELD AT CHRISMA HOTEL IN LUSAKA, ZAMBIA. SALUTATIONS Good morning everyone. We thank our Father in heaven who has made it possible for us to be here today to perform a task that is urgent, a task that is close to our hearts, a noble task. I will promulgate this press statement on behalf of all political parties that are represented here and all Zambians that are part of what we are about to announce and indeed on my own behalf as leader of Alliance for a Better Zambia. Before, I proceed allow me to recognize General Malimba Masheke here with us and all leaders opposition political parties present in person or through their elected representatives. Last but not the least I recognize our distinguished friends from the media through whom we are going to address fellow citizens and all people of goodwill. BACKGROUND For some time now, news bulletins on radio and television as well as newspapers have been carrying demands by a cross section of Zambians calling for unity and common purpose among opposition political parties in our country. This is a subject on the lips of many Zambians. Our people have spoken clearly about the deteriorating governance performance of our country under the Patriotic Front. Violation of human rights, abuse of power and corruption has become the order of the day. Zambians are suffering because PF has refused to honour its promises including the promise of more money in people’s pockets. The cost of living has gone up with basic needs such as mealie meal rising to levels beyond what many people can afford. This scenario has convinced our people that PF got into government through the window and not the door because they lied to get votes. No one doubts the reality that our country risks having the strides we have recorded economically, political and socially reversed by a government that is preoccupied with political entrenchment with its offshoots of patronage, corruption and mediocre leadership. The future of our country looks bleak. A dark cloud of uncertainty hangs over our country. These happenings among many others that I can’t afford to mention in one statement have heightened people’s calls for a united opposition to provide effective checks and balances to the PF government and give Zambians hope by offering them a credible leadership alternative in 2016 and beyond. BIRTH OF AN ALLIANCE OF OPPOSITION POLITICAL PARTIES Therefore, we the opposition political parties represented here today have called you distinguished members of the media to respond to calls for a united opposition alliance. Henceforth, we wish to announce the birth or start of an alliance of opposition political parties under the theme, “Save Zambia, Zambia Deserves Better”. We are yet to agree on a name to call this alliance, but for now we are comfortable to call it an alliance of opposition political parties in Zambia. LAUNCH OF THE ALLIANCE The alliance will be launched in the near future. Today, we have just made the announcement about its birth. This is why we only invited the media. We know that Zambians are interested to know how we shall operate. MODE OF OPERATION We shall continue to operate as independent political parties as before. As we go on we shall explore ways to strengthen the alliance. If Zambians who have called for this alliance shall demand that we merge and form one bigger political entity, we shall consider that idea at that time. CHALLENGES AHEAD We must say that this task we have decided to embark on today is a huge one that shall require a lot of sacrifice, selflessness and the mature spirit of give-and-take. We foresee many challenges and we are prepared to confront them and stay on course. There will be many bridges to be crossed. However, we shall not make the mistake of attempting to cross a bridge before we get there. SKEPTICISM We know that some people may think that those of us who have started this alliance are taking a risk. Some people may even think that we are engaging in futility because according to them alliances in Zambia have failed to work. Yes, we are taking a risk on behalf of millions of Zambians that have asked us to come together and offer a formidable alternative to the bad leadership of the Patriotic Front. WE ARE DETERMNED But we don’t believe that this is a futile exercise. At this juncture, allow us to say that perfecting the efficient, safer and reliable transport of flying that we enjoy today was preceded by numerous accidents. Many people died. But this did not stop resilient and courageous men and women including youth from keeping on trying. Today, aviation and the whole world owe it to them for their courage and resilience. Similarly medical researchers have continued to search for the cure of the virus that causes AIDS despite the many failures recorded over the years. And the world remains hopeful that one day a cure for the dreaded HIV/AIDS will be found. COMMITTEE OR COUNCIL OF HELDERS At this juncture, we wish to inform you that consultations for the formation of a committee of elders to serve as an advisory council have reached an advanced stage. Once the consultations are over, we shall announce the names of respected men and women that will be part of the council. For now, we are happy to say that we have elected a chairperson for the alliance who has already started working. And it is no other than General Malimba Masheke. We don’t need to explain who he is and what he has done for our country. TECHNICAL COMMITTEE We also wish to state that we shall soon come up with a technical committee that will draw membership from all participating political parties. It will also include non-partisan experts and other interested citizens. This technical committee will serve as a think tank and will also be responsible for preparing documents such as a common manifesto and others. PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE We shall come up with a modality to elect one presidential candidate for the 2016 Tripartite elections. Against this background, we wish to make it clear that political parties in the alliance have a right to forward a name, that name maybe of the leader of the party, for election and subsequent adoption as presidential candidate for the alliance. It is our considered view that even persons that may not belong to any of the parties in the alliance should be considered to stand as president in 2016 or before on the ticket of our alliance provided they meet the requirements of the modality we shall devise for election of a presidential candidate. This is because we do not want to exclude any Zambian of goodwill. We want to be inclusive and unify our people. OUR GOAL Our goal is to offer Zambians servant leadership that would unite our people and accelerate development. We condemn nepotism and we detest corruption. We condemn selective prosecution and violation of the rights and freedoms of our people. We uphold honesty, accountability and freedom of expression. THE CONSTITUTION We wish to state that we support calls for a durable people driven constitution that would cure some of the problems our country has been wrestling with including the problem of giving the head of state excessive powers. We need a constitution that would strengthen state institutions and promote the rule of law by enhancing separation of powers between the three arms of government. Of-course we need a constitution that would guarantee economic, social and cultural rights of our people. Against this background, we demand honesty and accountability from the Patriotic Front in the current constitution making process. UNITY IN BY-ELECTIONS As for by-elections and other elections that may arise between now and 2016, it is our intention to come up with a strategy to strengthen the alliance going into such elections. One way to do this is fielding a common candidate on the ticket of the alliance. On this point, we need to emphasize that the idea of fielding a common candidate in by-elections has not yet been agreed. As such, the public should not be surprised to see members of the alliance fielding their own candidates in the forthcoming by-elections. Nevertheless, our prayer is that this will be resolved as soon as possible. CONCLUSION We wish to make it clear that the alliance is open to more interested and serious political parties. Please mark our words here. We are saying that we are open to “more” parties and not “any” party. We are alive to the reality that some parties may join us with the sole purpose of causing confusion. Finally, we think that this statement we have made today has addressed a number of issues and clearly explained what we believe in and how we wish to operate as an alliance. Therefore, it is our hope that opposition political parties that want to join us will find this statement useful as they consider coming along with us. May God continue to bless our land and its people. Thank you. FR. FRANK BWALYA CO-ORDINATOR OF THE ALLIANCE
Posted on: Fri, 24 Jan 2014 11:43:43 +0000
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