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MMD needs a winnable candidate, says Katele

MMD needs a winnable candidate, says Katele
Written by Katwishi Bwalya and Patson Chilemba
Friday, June 05, 2009 11:17:44 PM

MMD national secretary Katele Kalumba has said the party needs to adopt a winnable candidate at the party's national convention in view of the political pact between the PF and the UPND. And Chisamba MMD member of parliament Moses Muteteka has said the pact between the PF and the UPND is a wake-up call to the ruling party.

Commenting on the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) by the Patriotic Front (PF) and United Party for National Development (UPND) whose focus is to remove the MMD from power, Kalumba yesterday said the party was not threatened by the pact between the two opposition parties.

However, he said the MMD members needed to maintain unity and remain focussed.

"The most important thing is unity within the party. Once we are united as a party we will achieve something. And unity comes from a shared sense of purpose [and] focus on a common goal. The more divided in terms of our leadership the less chance we have," Kalumba said.

"We need to fight for our common good, and that is putting up a winnable candidate. And I am happy that our members throughout the country seem to be reaching some consensus that we can have the unity at the convention."

He said the political pact between PF and UPND was based on regional politics coming as a result of cracks in their political parties. Kalumba said the pact should not be measured as a sign of strength for the two parties.

"In fact as national secretary for MMD I anticipated this a long time ago because I saw their cracks within their ranks and when people have serious cracks it is the only way out for them," Kalumba said.

"It is not the measure of their strength but in fact it is a measure of their weakness and the thesis behind this kind of pact is regionalism that UPND has a base in the south and Mr Sata has a base somewhere in the north. Regional politics is not a foundation for ruling Zambia, that is why we beat them last time on the basis of the same principal that they were being regional."

And Muteteka said the pact between PF and the UPND was just a political joke because the two parties never consulted their grass roots.

"Politically, it is an issue already because you are playing with the minds of the people. The pact is a wake up call to the ruling party because we have seen that the enemies are multiplying to remove us from power and we must defend this because the country risks going backwards," Muteteka said.

"We cannot have presidents like Sata to lead the country; I think he has had his life in politics, we have to go for a new generation [and] Hakainde is young and brilliant but I think he must put his house in order."

He wondered how a Bemba president and a Tonga president would work together.

"I am wondering if at all they had carried out very extensive consultations because PF should be mindful of their members and equally UPND should be mindful of their members and I don't think these two leaders consulted the grass root for them to go into that because for me this is a political joke they are trying to attempt," Muteteka observed.

"And it is not the best solution to remove MMD from power. I am a member of parliament from Chisamba and I am MMD and I know how strong I am with my party in Chisamba so I don't have members of PF and I don't have members of UPND."

He said PF and UPND were just trying to create political confusion in the country because they were playing to the gallery.

"This is just political confusion they are bringing in this country [because] the two don't mean well to each other to start with it is not going to work out there. A Bemba president and Tonga president wouldn't agree to look after the affairs of the majority of this country. They are just playing to the gallery," Muteteka claimed.

"I don't think this is a right time to go into such. Let them study the political mood in the country and let them consult and if they have the capacity let them engage a political consultant to analyse the issues in this country otherwise they are just giving us an upper hand. And they are just promoting MMD to grow bigger because most of their members would be coming to MMD."

Chief government spokesperson Lieutenant General Ronnie Shikapwasha charged that PF president Michael Sata and UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema had entered into a 'marriage of convenience' because they were under pressure from their cadres for losing popularity in the country.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the pact between the two parties would not succeed.

He said both Sata and Hichilema had been involved in electoral pacts in the past, which had failed to work.

"Mr Hichilema made a pact before with [late] president [Levy] Mwanawasa when he went to State House and shook hands, saying he would support president Mwanawasa. But when he left the house he changed his mind. He entered into an alliance called UDA but that did not work. And what happened with Mr Sata's electoral pact with [ULP leader] Sakwiba Sikota?" Lt Gen Shikapwasha asked.

"It is one of those under pressure marriages. They are having pressure from their cadres to unite because they are losing popularity. This is a face-saver."

Lt Gen Shikapwasha said the MMD was not threatened and would continue with the good work it was doing.

He said MMD had a capable team of hard workers to ensure money in people's pockets.

"And they [people] are having money in their pockets," Lt Gen Shikapwasha said. "You think this is a pact that can threaten MMD? You will see when elections come, they will split. Mr Sata was saying that Mr Hichilema is under-five, and do you think he has graduated from being under-five now?"

He said the PF were just politicking when their councils had failed to perform.

Lt Gen Shikapwasha claimed that even pictures of Sata and Hichilema in yesterday's Post edition showed that the two leaders were not happy to enter into a pact.

MMD chairperson for elections Mike Mulongoti said the PF and UPND's electoral pact was not supported by any ideological reasons because both Sata and Hichilema wanted the Republican presidency so much that it hurt.

Mulongoti said there was more that divided PF and UPND than what united them. He said the only thing that were common between Sata and Hichilema was the fact that they were both losing presidential candidates. Mulongoti said both had lost their secretary generals and were known to support tribal inclinations in politics.

"What divides them is that they belong to what I call desperate united. They all want the presidency so much that it hurts. So it will be difficult for them to decide who becomes president ultimately," he said.

Mulongoti echoed Lt Gen Shikapwasha's sentiments that President Rupiah Banda's government was performing and those who were speaking ill were opposition voices. He said those in opposition wanted to say that the current regime had done nothing during the elections in 2011.

Mulongoti said he knew party members in PF and UPND who had expressed hopelessness in the two parties, saying this was the time to join the MMD.

"In my father's house there are many rooms," said Mulongoti.

PF and UPND on Thursday signed an MoU whose focus is to remove the ruling MMD from power. According to the joint communiqué signed by Sata and Hichilema, the two parties would work together on all matters of national importance.

Labels: ELECTIONS, KATELE KALUMBA, MMD

posted by MrK @ 10:22 PM