Maravi

PF is jealous of Chiluba’s relationship with MMD, says Mulongoti

PF is jealous of Chiluba’s relationship with MMD, says Mulongoti
Written by Patson Chilemba
Monday, October 19, 2009 7:12:49 AM

WORKS and supply minister Mike Mulongoti has said the Patriotic Front (PF) is jealous of former president Frederick Chiluba’s relationship with the MMD. And Mulongoti said the PF’s victory in the Kasama Central parliamentary by-election proved that they are able to fight and retain their seats.

Reacting to PF president Michael Sata’s statement that Chiluba and President Rupiah Banda were now licking their shame following the MMD’s defeat in Kasama, Mulongoti described PF as a jilted lover who was jealous of Chiluba’s relationship with MMD.

“When Chiluba helped PF, they enjoyed his patronage all the way, they are like a jilted lover. The jilted lover is PF, very jealous, yes,” Mulongoti said.

“For us [MMD], like I said much earlier, is that as a political party, we have no enemies. Anybody who comes, we welcome. Even if it’s you Mr Chilemba, if today you said, you want to help us, we will not chase you. That’s all. So the question of trying to look for faults in relationships; that’s not our idea. Our idea is that we want to be a national party so that all citizens must feel free to exercise their rights. As far as we are concerned we don’t have any issue over that.”

Mulongoti said PF was jilted to see Chiluba with another lover.

“We must be decent enough to allow people to live their lives,” he said.

Commenting on the PF’s landslide victory in the Kasama Central by-election that was held on Thursday, Sata said President Banda deceived himself to think that Chiluba was popular.

Sata said Chiluba was a very big liability for President Banda.

And Mulongoti said the people of Kasama could not be faulted for having elected PF’s Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba to be their member of parliament.

“That was a PF turf and we were trying to wrestle it from them. So they have proved that they are able to fight back, and that is what is important,” Mulongoti said.

Mulongoti said the MMD would equally prepare hard to retain the Solwezi-Central parliamentary seat.

He said the PF were fighting for survival because if they had lost in Kasama, that would have been the end.

Mulongoti said former defence minister George Mpombo seems to have a crusade against President Banda.

“You know, when a person is crusading against the President of the country, we would rather leave him to his devices,” Mulongoti said.

He said he did not want to respond to Mpombo because he felt guilty doing so in that most MMD members had advised him against reacting to Mpombo.

MMD deputy national secretary Jeff Kaande said MMD would go back to the drawing board after their defeat in Kasama.

He said Kasama was predominantly PF and there was nothing the MMD could do over the people’s support for the opposition party.

Kaande said the MMD failed to convince the people with their message.

“We failed to make any in-roads in Kasama,” said Kaande.

The PF overwhelmingly scooped the Kasama Central seat when their candidate GBM amassed 10,688 votes against MMD’s Burton Mugala who got 4,184, leaving a difference of 6,504 between them.

Labels: CHILUBA, MIKE MULONGOTI, PF-UPND

posted by MrK @ 6:13 AM