Monday, October 20, 2008

The Post is making me popular, claims Rupiah

The Post is making me popular, claims Rupiah
By Noel Sichalwe in Siavonga
Monday October 20, 2008 [04:00]

VICE-President Rupiah Banda yesterday claimed the Post is making him popular. And Vice-President Banda is sure that the election observers will declare the October 30 election free and fair. Addressing several chiefs at Kariba North Bank Guest House, Vice-President Banda urged chiefs to vote for him.

"We have done everything possible to enhance our democracy. I am the most experienced to become president and in two years, you can give a masters degree to somebody," he said. "In these difficult times, I have been a target of insults, insinuations and all kind of things but like you have taught us, that when you are a leader you are a target.

They call you all sorts of names, fortunately for me people have stood for me. Starting with MMD selection, I came out top, beating my next opponent four times despite the gospel according to, I don't want to mention names but everybody knows that they never have a front page without my name. They have never had an editorial comment without my first name, they have never had their jokes without my first name.

Unfortunately, they have made me popular. Wherever I have gone, people have turned up in huge numbers in all the provinces of this country. So I think that I have behaved well under difficult circumstances. I have no intention to whip anybody who did bad things to me.

I am not going to do that. It will pain them because they will come to be if they have problems and they will be surprised that I will welcome them because I will be president for all. I have not come here to fight people but fight issues that are confronting Zambians."

Vice-President Banda gave an example of the reduction of fuel prices as one way of fighting issues affecting Zambians. He said people might be thinking that he was doing certain projects because he wanted to be elected but that he meant well for them.

He said the government has reduced the fuel pump price in a simple manner and that they never complicated issues. He said after analysing why Zambia had high fuel prices, they found that it was the taxation system that was not right.

Vice-President Banda he said they decided to drop some taxes to reduce fuel prices and that this had not even affected the economy. He said they were now trying to find a way of standardising the price of fuel throughout the country.

He said the most affected areas were in far places which were also poor. He said the government would find a way of having a uniform price of fuel in a simple and smart way.

Vice-President Banda said they had also decided to increase the fertiliser subsidy from 60 per cent to 75 per cent. He said though the move might hurt the economy, they were aware that the price of food was increasing and that this might help to mitigate the problems later.

The speech was often interrupted with claps from chiefs who seemed to enjoy as he was speaking.

Vice-President Banda said he had several reasons why people should vote for him in the October 30 presidential election. He said the people had already elected the MMD to be the ruling party in 2006 and also elected late president Mwanawasa as Republican President.

Vice-President Banda said now that president Mwanawasa had died, life had to continue and that they needed to build on from where he had left.

He told chiefs to vote for him because he had demonstrated his leadership qualities by running the country without distractions. He said he was merely a continuation of late president Mwanawasa.

Vice-President Banda said there was an attempt to deny the fact that he was appointed as MMD presidential candidate by some sections of the media who wrote stories that late president Mwanawasa left the power pf attorney to run the country in the hands of other people.

"I think we all know the truth that there was no such other than me," he said. "I was the one that he left the country in my hands. So as I have been saying throughout the country, I think I know you a little bit and you know me a little bit."

Vice-President Banda said he had tried to run the country when the president was around or absent. He said he was a better continuation of late president Mwanawasa's vision.

He said after November 1, he hoped to continue without any disruption as president. He said if UPND could win the elections, it meant that they would have to deal with issues of Parliament where MMD had about 84 members of parliament.

Vice-President Banda said UPND would start with 22 members of parliament with the majority from Southern Province but that he had support from many opposition parties and independent people.

He said together with opposition parties that were supporting his candidature, they had an excess of 91 members of parliament and that they would start work on the first day upon being re-elected to implement the running programmes.

Vice-President Banda said even if UPND president Hakainde Hichilema won the elections, he would not be able to form cabinet even after three weeks because he did ot have enough members of parliament to select cabinet from.

He said even if Hichilema chose cabinet from Southern Province members of parliament, it could not be a national Parliament and that this disqualified him from being elected as president.

He said even if UPND and PF members of parliament were put together, they had 62 members of parliament that could not meet the basic requirement of 76 members of parliament to form government.

He said the number could not even reach the 50 plus one threshold that was needed to form government. He said the members of parliament for the two political parties were coming from the line of rail and that they could not represent Zambians from across the country.

He said the Constitution stated that after an election of this nature, once the opposition had won the elections, they could dissolve Parliament and dissolve themselves to call for fresh elections.

Vice-President Banda said the country would then not have a leader until elections took place. He said this would be gambling with the destiny, the security, the children and the property of the country.

He said the current elections would cost K256 billion just to elect a new president and that if the new government could call for general elections after failing to form government, this would involve about K500 billion in order to satisfy the appetite of few individuals that wanted to become leaders.

Vice-President Banda said the previous election had already decided and that it was only for the period of three years that people were electing a new president. He said people in the country wanted to support MMD and afterwards go for general elections.

He said he had been running the country with the help of Zambians and that even when he was acting while late president Mwanawasa was out on duty, there were no destructions.

Vice-President Banda said Zambians were admired by many countries for the way they mourned the late president.

He said he called for elections as soon as possible and put together a system that was transparent and that all political parties were allowed to participate and that world monitors were allowed to monitor the elections.

Vice-President Banda hoped that the political parties and election monitors would declare the elections as free and fair. He also had a private meeting with Siavonga businessmen.

Vice-President Banda is in Siavonga to officiate at the 50th Anniversary of the Kariba Dam.

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posted by MrK @ 5:29 AM