Opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) President Mumba says his party will only hold its national convention after five years.
And Alliance for Democracy and Development ( ADD ) President Charles Milupi says his party has no intention of holding a convention before the 2016 elections.
And opposition Forum for Democratic and Development (FDD ) Chairman for elections Sony Croft says his party has started preparing for the national convention in readiness for 2016 general elections which he said is around the corner.
Meanwhile, opposition UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) legal chairperson Jack Mwiimbu says that party president Hakainde Hichilema is eligible to contest the 2016 presidential election.
MMD President Mumba said this is according to the MMD manifesto to hold the convention every after five years and not otherwise.
Dr Mumba was speaking to the Zambia News and Information Services(ZANIS) in Lusaka yesterday.
He said the possibility of holding a national convention before next year’s elections is utopia because the party had its convention in 2012 after it lost the election to the ruling Patriotic Front(PF)
Dr Mumba stated that it is the work of the National Executive Committee(NEC) to decide in certain circumstances when to hold the convention .
He said as far as he is concerned, all the position in the former ruling party were filled up in 2012 during the party’s provincial conventions as stipulated in the party’s constitution.
And Alliance for Democracy and Development ( ADD ) President Charles Milupi says his party has no intention of holding a convention before the 2016 elections.
Mr Milupi said all party positions in the ADD were filled in during their convention which was held at Mulungushi International conference soon after the formation of the party.
He said his party will never abrogate the party’s constitution to hold its convention and that it will always do so when the right time comes.
Mr Milupi also advised other political parties which have never hold their party convention to do so in order to promote intra party democracy in their parties.
Meanwhile, Forum for Democratic and Development (FDD ) Chairman for elections Sony Croft says his party has started preparing for the national convention in readiness for 2016 general elections which he said is around the corner.
Mr Croft said FFD will start elections from ward, districts, provinces and finally the national convention before the end of this year.
He said every member of the party will be allowed to contest any position without any intimidation of any kind.
Mr Croft stated that preparations for the same have reached an advanced stage
And opposition UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) legal chairperson Jack Mwiimbu says that party president Hakainde Hichilema is eligible to contest the 2016 presidential election.
Mr Mwiimbu said in a statement that the UPND constitution allowed Mr Hichilema to stand on the party ticket for the next year’s general elections.
He said according to Article 79 of the UPND manifesto, a party president shall be eligible for election for an indefinite period subject to the constitution, provided that a party president who is elected Republican president shall only serve two terms that shall run concurrently with the term of office as president.
Mr Mwiimbu said according to the UPND constitution, Mr Hichilema was qualified to be party president and contest the next presidential election.
Meanwhile, Mr Hichilema has urged his supporters to keep the hope alive for 2016.
Mr Hichilema said in a Press release recently that the UPND was encouraged with the support it received from citizens and supporters home and abroad on the commitment for a peaceful, united and better Zambia.
HH wamuyayaya. No convention 10 years after assuming power.
There is no presidential vacancy in UPND for it to go to the convention.
Taking a glimpse into UPND’s strides ESPECIALLY prior to the presidential by-election I can forsee it emerging VICTORIOUS in 2016 and NO rigging will turn tables for PF this time around. The Muvi TV opinion polls gave and still giving a beaming light of new dawn for UPND. HH is a WELL known product in the market & there NO NEED of CHANGING the product.
MORE OVER more NEW VOTERS in 2016.
#ZAMBIA A COUNTRY WITHOUT A SHEPHERD
HH wayaya until he dies. I would not like a chap like this to rule Zambia at all, he smells of the likes of Mugabe, Museveni, and that Gabon dinosaur. HH and them believe they are the only ones who have the wisdom to rule despite their glaring failures….
why cant HH us that he is a democratic person. Eligibility for presidency is one thing whilst a convention simply demonstrates democracy.
@Hamiyanze
Only UPND and MMD have truly democratically party elected leaders.
In PF there were no elections at all. Lungu was picked by a show of hands and used pangas to usurp and consolidated his power. He used the defence to intimidate the justice system which then yielded to let him to become president.
All other parties, are still headed by founder members.
UPND will go to the convention as and when the presidential post falls vacant.
For now those of you who are calling for the vacancy in UPND should forget it. If you are not happy, go and form your own party.
In this era having constitution of wamuyayaya sure and you call that democracy. How can one be calling for a national constitution with baggage in his house unloaded? These are signs of rigidity and not being ready to stand a challenge lest another takes it. One day it will happen.
My inner feelings give me the impression that this man (HH) would even manipulate the republican constitution to remain wamuyaya. Abash tinpot dictators
Iwe kala mpokende other wise you will be replaced by ghosts. I do not see any party in Zambia that can claim to follow what its constitution states. On that one all parties are guilty. Since the formation of PF Sata was th sloe cadidate till his death, even when people knew thew gentleman was not well, they had already proposed his name. I think it is a common practice in Africa. Talk of countries like Egypt, Uganda, Zimbabwe, apart from countries that have well educated masses like South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, the rest of us is to wait for someone’s death. Anyone pointing a fingure at any one party is just another FOOL among us.
,upnd,What a sham of a constitution! And these are the people to entrust with our national constitution when they have a defective, ineffective and dictatorial constitution. Nkalani niwamuyaya wanu!ukokwine!
UPND: u are very OK as you are. I mean who wants to hear about theories like “internal democracy”? In fact, you are the most democratic of all the political parties in Zambia – your HH was actually voted into his seat, unlike the others. You are definitely winning 2016! Don’t worry about that – not even one bit! Look at the Muvi TV polls; they show that all Zambians want you… 84% my man!!! Now that’s whats up! The entire Zambia wants you!
For a while we thought that HH’s silence on the matter was to allow some other voice to speak for him and say “UPND does not need a convention, we already have our candidate” in the same manner that Chiluba tried to get a 3rd term and RB tried for a comeback by saying “it is up to the people”. But hey, you guys have already bagged this, why…
…you guys have already bagged this, why care?!
Niwamuyaya HH, yaba..am afraid, this z Kaunda type..We don’t want leaders like ba HH,.you guys are jst too selfish nd this is the reason why Tongas are not trustworthy..You that he calls his supporters try to advice your HH to just focus on his business affairs,else he will die of panic attack in 2016 when he will lose as usual..The 41 percent he got in the jst ended by-election will this time drop to 10 percent or jst 5…We av nw made up our minds, that we shall give support to Elias Chipimo in 2021 whn he z going to takeover frm PF, that’s whn you wll believe that Mazoka died together wth his party..
IT WOULD BE SILLY FOR UPND TO FLOAT IN ANOTHER PERSON AS A PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE OF THE PARTY AT THIS CRITICAL AND RIPE MOMENT WHEN ZAMBIANS HAVE KNOWN HAKAINDE HICHILEMA AND HAVE FALLEN IN LOVE WITH HIM! WHAT WE SHOULD BE TALKING ABOUT IN UPND NOW IS CONSOLIDATING WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE. WE NEED TO MOBILIZE EVERY PARTY STRUCTURE AND MEMBERS IN EVERY CORNER OF THE COUNTRY SO THAT WE NEGATE WHAT EVER CHALLENGES AND OBSTACLES THAT WE MIGHT HAVE ENCOUNTERED IN THE RECENT PAST. VIVA HH VIVA!
We love HH non violent,peaceful minded, positive thinker exceptionally tolerant, this is the man who intends to bring Zambia to life. Under PF brutes, brutalising marketeers, zambia is dying. Lungu did not win at the convention he used pangas. At the presidential pf thieves used PHISHING to steal votes from the winner HH election.
This man H.H is the product UPND has sold so far. It will be folly and stupid for them to think of replacing him. To bring a new product and start selling it will require another five to ten years.
As for PF the party I have once voted for can not claim to have intra party democracy. Was there democracy in the way Mr. Sata was elected to be PF president? What about our Lungu?. The dubious methods of injunctions and dribbling to head PF cannot be said to be democracy.
viva HH and the Zambian people behind UPND
I really can’t imagine that a person in their right mind would still think HH will ever be president of our beautiful country, the gentleman is a symbol of Tribal Politicts, a poster child of Buntustan thinking .
HH GO FOR 2016 ELECTIONS.HOW CAN UPND CHANGE SUCH A POPULAR LEADER WHO ALMOST WAS THERE ON 20TH JAN2015.PEOPLE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN HH.MOST PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR EL IT WAS JUST A SYMPATHY VOTE FOR THE LATE PRESIDENT.VIVA HH.PF ARE AFRAID AND ARE THE ONES WHO ARE INSISTING UPND TO CHOOSE ANOTHER LEADER BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF HH.WE HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH CLOSE AND COMPETIVE ELECTIONS BEFORE EXCEPT 20TH JAN 2015.ONLY FOLLS WILL ADVISE UPND TO CHOOSE A NEW LEADER AT THIS CRITICAL STAGE.
HH GO FOR 2016 ELECTIONS.HOW CAN UPND CHANGE SUCH A POPULAR LEADER WHO ALMOST WAS THERE ON 20TH JAN2015.PEOPLE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN HH.MOST PEOPLE WHO VOTED FOR EL IT WAS JUST A SYMPATHY VOTE FOR THE LATE PRESIDENT.VIVA HH.PF ARE AFRAID AND ARE THE ONES WHO ARE INSISTING UPND TO CHOOSE ANOTHER LEADER BECAUSE THEY ARE AFRAID OF HH.WE HAVE NEVER HAD SUCH CLOSE AND COMPETIVE ELECTIONS BEFORE EXCEPT 20TH JAN 2015.ONLY FOOLS WILL ADVISE UPND TO CHOOSE A NEW LEADER AT THIS CRITICAL STAGE.
why shud UPND complain about the republican constitution when they cant respect theirs? How can we trust such a man who came in thru a vote and later on stops voting. if zambia is a democratic state then all parties including PF shud tree convetions before 2016 elections. HH shud form his political party not UPND
Leave parties to do their own internal thing our concerns should be democracy at national governance level. I wonder why people who are not even members in any party be agitating that these parties go for a convention!
HH was never democratically elected. It was made very clear that only a Tonga should lead UPND after the demise of Mazoka. HH was actually imposed on the basis of tribe. So UPND do not think we are so blind. Once again, the UPND constitution clearly stipulates that the Party shall hold a Convention every 5 years. If HH is as popular as you say, why is he so scared to hold a Convention and discuss party business according to the constitution. You are only citing the part that states that HH is eligible. Yes he is elegible if he is confirmed by the convention which you refusing to recognise and therefore abrogating your own constitution. This makes HH worse than Mugabe. You have already created a local Mugabe in your own party known as HH.