Maravi

Planned expulsion of mps splits mmd

Planned expulsion of mps splits mmd
By Allan Mulenga, Mukosha Funga and Roy Habaalu
Tue 17 July 2012, 15:10 CAT

DIVISIONS have emerged in the MMD with some NEC members saying they were not consulted on the decision to expel MPs that had accepted ministerial positions in the government.

And MMD president Nevers Mumba yesterday said PF should have consulted MMD over members of parliament going to serve in government.

Meanwhile Mumba in the morning held a closed-door meeting at Falls Way Apartments in Lusaka where he pleaded with some deputy ministers to relinquish their ministerial positions.

Some National Executive Committee sources said the nine members of parliament that had been threatened with expulsion were not given a chance to exculpate themselves.

"It's just a small group of people that want someone to be speaking for them and gain sympathy for the cases they are facing in the courts of law...and you know our president Nevers doesn't seem to realise that they are using him to defend the corrupt when the government summons them to answer to charges of corruption," sources said.

"What people don't know is that the party in its current form is divided. Some of us NEC members feel Mumba is not consulting us on many decisions and that he's always bulldozing. He never gave those MPs chance to be heard jut because he was informed that they are spying for PF. He wakes up and expels people he found."

And sources disclosed that Mumba's quest to garner support from NEC members continued after he met Elijah Muchima, who is Ikelengi MMD member of parliament and deputy minister of lands to convince him to relinquish his deputy ministerial position.

"Yes, Mumba today in the morning had a fruitful meeting where he discussed with Muchima over his continued alignment with the PF government. It is expected that he Muchima will make a decision as to whether to continue serving in government or not. Muchima is just one among many meeting Mumba," said the NEC source.

And when contacted for a comment, Muchima's secretary at the ministry responded: "He is in a meeting with some government officials. Try to call him later in the day."

And in an interview yesterday, Mumba said the PF should have consulted the MMD before getting its members because what they did was like they were independent members of parliament.

"The act of PF coming to get members from MMD without consulting its leadership entails they are independent members of parliament. That is our argument. They should have consulted with us to dialogue with the leadership," he said.

Mumba said if PF needed help, they should have come in a spirit of dialogue.
"If they say they need help, they should have come to us in a spirit of dialogue, with the leaders and if they did this, who would have stopped the dialogue?" he asked.

Mumba said they were not looking for by-elections as a party.

Mumba added that FDD president Edith Nawakwi should refrain from using the media to dialogue with him and instead speak to him in person.

"If Nawakwi wants to tell me something, she knows my number. We are both in the opposition. She can come and find out from me. I'm not obliged to give Nawakwi the pleasure of commenting but I will let her say whatever she wants to say. But I would rather she talks to me in person if she has anything to say," she said.

On Sunday, Nawakwi advised Mumba against expelling his members of parliament serving in government to avoid costly by-elections.

Meanwhile, Vice-President Guy Scott said MMD would fail to expel its members who were appointed as deputy ministers because they were elected members of parliament and the President had the right to select ministers from any party.

"We tried to expel our rebels in PF when we were in opposition for collaborating with MMD and we failed. So I would expect the MMD also to fail. We put up legal challenge after legal challenge and we failed. They have their right, they are elected members of parliament. Nevers Mumba himself was not an MMD member of parliament, he was in NCC when he was chosen to be vice-president," he said.

"Lots of people, our own Chimbaka was chosen to be a minister of Luapula Province even though he was a PF member. So what are they complaining about? If they are expelled, I expect them to go to court. In Zambia everyone goes to court. It is national hobby."

Labels: MMD, MPs, PF

posted by MrK @ 3:52 PM