Maravi

PF wants to wipe out opposition - Siliya

COMMENT - Talk about bluster. It is called breaking the law, former minister Siliya, and now it's time to pay. I remember when she did a show with ZambiaBlogTalkRadio, and one of the conditions was that she would not answer any question outside of the topic - so no questions answered in public about ZAMTEL. She does not have that luxury in court, without the judge being allowed to draw an inference from her silence. How dare she call accountability for corruption 'wiping out the opposition' and by implication, 'persecution'.

PF wants to wipe out opposition - Siliya
By Chibaula Silwamba and Bright Mukwasa
Fri 04 Nov. 2011, 13:00 CAT

MMD says the ruling Patriotic Front wants to use court petitions to wipe out or weaken it and other opposition political parties. And the MMD thanked the PF government for appointing some of its members of parliament as deputy ministers.

Addressing a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday, MMD spokesperson and Petauke Central member of parliament, Dora Siliya, said the former ruling party recognised that every candidate had the right to petition any election but the PF's petitions in 50 out of 150 constituencies raised concerns.

"We don't believe that this right should be abused in an attempt to wipe out or even weaken the opposition. Otherwise, how do we explain the unprecedented 50 petitions by the PF?" said Siliya, whose election was also been petitioned by PF's Leonard Banda.

"What is even more interesting is that the ruling party has petitioned its own institutions such as the ECZ Electoral Commission of Zambia and the Attorney General. Is that an indication that this election was fraudulent?"

While in power, the MMD and its Mufumbwe parliamentary candidate Mulondwe Muzungu last year petitioned the by-election results, and sued the ECZ and Attorney General.
Siliya said the MMD would fight the PF's high number of petitions because it viewed it as an assault on democracy.

She said Zambians under the MMD in 1991 demanded multiparty politics hence the citizens should reject any manoeuvres to take the country back to a one party state.

Siliya admitted that there was a perception that the MMD and some of its members were corrupt.

"We will fight this perception so that the public can continue to appreciate MMD as a responsible opposition necessary for the continued development of this party," Siliya said.

"We believe that when we the politicians are seen to be unnecessarily bringing each other down, comfort for all political parties lies in those who practice law, who must indeed provide clear direction as arbitrators, so that reality and not perception, and the law, not political witch-hunting, serves us all."

Siliya said the morale and confidence of the MMD was low, as expected, after its September 20 electoral defeat.

"We wish to show gratitude to the PF government for appointing some of our parliamentarians into the executive. We see this as part of continued national building," Siliya said.

She said the MMD had set up a committee to be chaired by its chairperson for foreign affairs Dr Kalombo Mwansa to do a postmortem on the party's performance in the last elections.

"The fact is that after 20 years in office, we are in opposition now. Factors contributing to this included an inability to heed to the needs of many urban dwellers and failure to address the needs of many young people such as affordable education facilities and jobs," Siliya admitted.

Siliya took note of party members defecting from the MMD and said the former ruling party could not stop them from leaving if they could not stomach being in opposition.

She said most leaders and members still believed in the party and found new inspiration and energy from within themselves and as a group.

Siliya said discipline and an immediate recruitment drive was of the most essence to the MMD.
"We can learn from the tenacity of the PF and President Michael Sata who within 10 years turned around an opposition party into a party in government," Siliya said.

She said there was neither power vacuum nor struggle in the MMD.
Siliya said every member of the MMD was free to aspire for the party presidency to replace Rupiah Banda, who had indicated that he wants to retire.

The MMD, which took power from Kenneth Kaunda's UNIP in 1991 in the first key multiparty election, was voted out in the September 20 tripartite elections.
Banda lost to 74-year-old Sata.

The MMD got 55 seats in parliament, though one of its parliamentarians resigned, leaving it with only 54 legislators at the moment. President Sata's PF, formed in 2001 as a breakaway party from the MMD, has 60 elected parliamentarians and eight nominated members bringing the total to 68.

The UPND has 28 parliamentarians, the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) has one each, three are independent parliamentarians while another three seats are vacant awaiting the November 24 by-election. The total number of elected parliamentarians is supposed to be 150 and eight nominated, making it a 158-member legislature.

Labels: CORRUPTION, DORA SILIYA, PF

posted by MrK @ 4:29 PM