Maravi

MMD, UPND living in denial - Kabimba
By Moses Kuwema and Roy Habaalu
Tue 14 May 2013, 14:01 CAT

WYNTER Kabimba says MMD and UPND are living in denial and should re-brand and change the leadership if they are to attract new members including keeping the old ones within their parties. And Kabimba says the UPND has a tendency of wishing for things without attaching realism.

Responding to UPND deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa's challenge to President Michael Sata to dissolve Parliament as a way of curtailing by-elections, Kabimba who is PF secretary general and justice minister, said the opposition had a crisis of leadership that could inspire the followers.

"They MMD and UPND have a crisis themselves and this is the crisis of leadership that can inspire the followers to rally behind them. Hence, people are leaving because of bad leadership. Our colleagues should see if they can change the leadership in their political parties and re-brand themselves. UPND and MMD need re-branding so that they can inspire the confidence of their members within the party and those that would like to join them. That job cannot be done by PF for them. Let them meet the challenges of democracy," he said.

And Kabimba said there was no crisis at the moment that should warrant the dissolution of Parliament.
"You only dissolve Parliament when you have a crisis. We do not have a political crisis now. The PF government is enjoying a majority in Parliament. We have been able to move our programmes in Parliament and outside. We are not facing a crisis. To call for the dissolution of Parliament is not appreciating the variables that exist among political parties. My honest advice is that our colleagues should look in their political parties, they have a problem there," he said.
And on Mweetwa's statement that the PF's popularity wax, Kabimba wondered on what basis the Choma member of parliament was making such a statement when empirical evidence had shown the opposite.
"We heard that analysis in 2009 when we were in a pact with the UPND. That is a speculative argument, which was settled in the 2011 general elections," he said.
Kabimba said there was an aspect within the UPND of wishing for things without being realistic.
"They wish for things without realism attached to their wishes, that's the nature of our colleagues in the UPND. The results so far in local government and parliamentary elections are clear. You cannot lose an election and claim that you are popular. It is not true that PF is becoming unpopular. We are becoming more and more popular because we have continued to mobilise members," said Kabimba.
And Copperbelt youth chairman Menyani Zulu said Mweetwa was frustrated because he was not appointed minister.
He wondered how UPND would increase its popularity in the unlikely event that Parliament was dissolved because it had been losing the recent by-elections.
He said the 'little votes' UPND had been getting were from areas where MMD didn't contest.
"Cornelius is being naïve and I fail to appreciate how a person like him can sink so low and ignore the reality on the ground. UPND together with MMD teamed against PF in 2011 but we thumped them, they have been losing by-elections so what is Cornelius talking about? UPND should realise that you convince voters with the message you preach to people not boasting about money or using a tribe and these people don't know how to read politics," said Zulu.
Meanwhile, Kabimba says there is no room for traitors in PF.
Addressing constituency and district officials ahead of the June 20 by-election in Feira, Kabimba said there was no compromise on party discipline.
He said there were some party members whose loyalty was to both PF and the opposition.
"We don't want traitors that frustrate our policies. This party has grown because of disciplined members that believe in it. Those of you who are trading between PF and UPND, once we catch you, that is the end," he said.
Kabimba said old members should embrace those that were joining them.
He said those joining them were not going to grab positions from old members.
"People that are coming from MMD are joining you to make the party better. They are not coming to take up your positions; there is nobody from MMD that will take over your positions. That's not permissible in the party. You are the people that we depend on in this campaign so please my message to you is, unite and work together as a family," he said.
Kabimba said it was the policy of the party that one who caused a by-election either by resignation or through a petition was given priority to contest.
He said there was no need for the party to get divided over the choice of a parliamentary candidate.
Kabimba said the PF lost in Lukulu West because it was divided.
"If you become selfish and egocentric and lose this election, the central committee will consider you as bad leaders. This is not the time to settle family feuds or personal scores,' said Kabimba.
Meanwhile, PF Lusaka Province youth chairman Kennedy Kamba said youths had put suspected traitors on surveillance.
He said the youth league would not let the party be destroyed by a few selfish individuals.
'We cherish PF because we sacrificed our time and knowledge to liberate our country from the 20 years of misrule and bad governance. It's the values, norms and principles that we are protecting not an individual so traitors must realise that we know them and their day of reckoning is near,"said Kamba.

Labels: MMD, UPND, WYNTER KABIMBA

posted by MrK @ 2:28 PM