RETRIBUTION OR RECONCILIATION- ITS EDGER’S DECISION TO MAKE I may not have adequate legal knowledge to comment in detail on the meaning of a CONSENT JUDGEMENT beyond what has been reported by the media. I can only say, With the Lusaka High Court consent judgment of 3rd December 2014 in his right hand, waving it for all to see, Edger Lungu is now officially the Patriotic Front President and also the sole candidate for the 20th January 2015 presidential by-elections. It is extremely tempting for Edger Lungu at this stage to be advised by some PF Members to begin identifying all the people within the PF who did not rally behind him in his bid to become party president and sidelining them. It will be most unfortunate and regrettable if this option will even be placed on the table for consideration. Some of those in his inner circle may even insist that all those opposed to Edger Lungu’s bid be fired from their current positions and replaced with those who appear to be more loyal as we go into the national campaign for his national presidential bid. In my capacity as a member of the PF, I wish to place my advice on record that pursuing such a route will not be the best winning formula under the current circumstances. What is needed is political reconciliation and not political retribution coupled with fault finding. What Edger Lungu and his advisors should do is simply extend an olive branch to those individuals, bring them on board in the hope that they can add numbers to a successful republican presidential bid. It will be entirely up to those invited to bury the past 3 weeks of intra-party differences and forge ahead in unison. Matero MP Miles Sampa can bring numbers to the table and so can the remaining eight candidates who declared interest in the PF Presidency. By extending the invitation to them, Edger Lungu would have actually shifted the burden of responsibility to them. Some of the candidates like Chishimba Kambwili have proven records of being effective campaigners in any election and will therefore be assets to the campaign team of Edger Lungu and not liabilities. The same principle must apply for some of the provincial executive members and district officials of PF who were anti-Edger Lungu. If however these officials refuse to be part of the presidential campaign team for Edger Lungu, the PF President will now be at liberty to replace them with those who wish to be more committed to the process leading to the 20th January 2015 poll. For now, the message of unity must be preached to all party structures in PF. I remain hopeful that comrade Edger Lungu will rise above board and declare willingness to work with all members of the Patriotic Front. After all, this election is not about Edger Lungu but perhaps building on the strong developmental foundation the PF has laid over the last three years in government. This election we are winning as PF provided we run a well-coordinated political campaign founded on party unity.
Posted on: Thu, 04 Dec 2014 05:54:33 +0000
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