Maravi

PF-UPND pact is here to stay, assures Sata

PF-UPND pact is here to stay, assures Sata
By Patson Chilemba
Fri 20 Nov. 2009, 04:02 CAT

PATRIOTIC Front (PF) president Michael Sata yesterday assured that the PF-is to stay and that the MMD’s fear that it is a threat is correct. And Sata charged that President Rupiah Banda has started sneaking in and out of the country because he has come to terms with his failures.

Meanwhile, Sata said it was not possible for the MMD to sponsor the state-owned and government controlled media to counter The Post because it was founded on ideals which could not be challenged.

In an interview, Sata said President Banda sneaked into the country from Rome on Wednesday night and journalists were denied asking him questions.

He said President Banda also sneaked out of the country on his way to Libya because he was scared on being taken to task to answer important national questions by the journalists.

“He sneaked in because he said people are going to see that he is wasting money chattering a plane when people are suffering. He has started sneaking in and out. He has got something troubling him. He doesn’t want to answer questions. If you saw him in the past he was very joyful when he was travelling in and out of the country. Now he has been caught in failure, and he is sneaking in and out so that you don’t ask him questions,” Sata said.

And commenting on the MMD caucus meeting observation that the PF-UPND pact is a threat, saying at first those in the party thought the pact would crumble within months but it had kept on consolidating itself, Sata said the pact was unstoppable.

He said he was aware of the MMD’s desperation to counter the pact by sponsoring some named individuals to form political parties.

"We pact are getting organised every day, and this is the correct feeling by MMD because in the past, they have always been putting superficial popularity which they don’t have. The point is the pact is here to stay. The pact is an alternative government," Sata said.

He said some disgruntled members from MMD and UPND in Western and North Western provinces had come together with the aim of forming a political party.

"There will be Charles Milupi, Elias Chipimo. There will be a number of spoilers. There will be a lot of spoilers who will come. For instance last year, there were too many spoilers but if you see the record of the vote, if you look at the amount of the votes where we recovered 338,000 votes. This man President Rupiah Banda only got away with 35,000,” Sata said.

“So even if the Milupis come, the Milupis are working on the MMD. Disgruntled MMD in Western and North Western province are trying to form a political party. But that is not a factor. People are beyond those little considerations."

On the statements emanating from the MMD that they would need to pump money into the state-owned and government-media to counter The Post, Sata said the MMD were wasting their time.

He said The Post could not be countered because its ideals were founded on firm grounds and could not be challenged.

Sata said unlike the Times of Zambia and Daily Mail, The Post did not operate as a public relations firm of anyone.

“The public media, whether they put in money or no money, The Post has inbuilt ideals and intellect. You can’t counter The Post,” Sata said. “Because you see, today they state owned and government controlled media can write anything about me, but it won’t be news.”

On Vice-President George Kunda’s continued claims that the MMD was gaining ground in Luapula, Southern and Northern provinces, Sata said the Vice-President said the same in Kasama but his party was badly whipped.

He challenged Vice-President Kunda to ask PF rebel members of parliament to resign so that people could see who was truly popular.

“They said they were gaining ground in Northern Province and managed to convince Saviour Chishimba to resign. Chishimba , but did they get the Kasama seat? Why don’t they ask Besa Chimbaka to resign like Chishimba? That is the only way we are going to see the ground,” said Sata.

Labels: PF-UPND, SATA

posted by MrK @ 9:24 AM