MMD deputy national secretary Chembe Nyangu has advised the United Party for National Development (UPND) to stop claiming that it is more popular in Mufumbwe than the former ruling party.
Mr Nyangu said the MMD is more popular than any other political party that will consider contesting the Mufumbwe parliamentary seat.
The seat fell vacant last week after then MMD member of Parliament Steven Masumba resigned from the opposition party to join the Patriotic Front (PF).
This followed Mr Masumba’s expulsion from the MMD for allegedly accepting to serve in the PF government as Deputy Minister of Local Government and Housing.
Mr Nyangu was reacting to a statement by UPND chairperson for energy Garry Nkombo, who was quoted in some sections of the media as having said the party will field a candidate in the Mufumbwe parliamentary by-election set for November 8 because the MMD allegedly stole its seat.
But Mr Nyangu said in an interview in Lusaka on Thursday that it is wrong for UPND to claim that it is more popular in Mufumbwe than other political parties which will contest the seat because it only won the seat once in 2010.
He said the MMD has been winning the Mufumbwe seat since 1991 and that the seat only went to UPND in April 2010 when Mulondwe Muzungu lost to Elliot Kamondo.
“It is not correct to say it has been their seat. The UPND only won the seat once when Mr Kamondo was elected and whose seat was nullified because of the violence which characterised the by-election.
“The UPND only beat the MMD by 200 votes, so it is wrong for them to start claiming that the party is popular in Mufumbwe,” Mr Nyangu said.
He, however, said the MMD will soon have a meeting with UPND to decide which party will field a candidate the Mufumbwe by-election.
Mr Nyangu said the two parties have not yet decided on the matter and that the official position will be made public after the meeting.
[Zambia Daily Mail]
The results of the election will be the indicator of who is more popular than the other. This is a numbers game; the two parties are counting their chicks before they are hatched!!
ok
Ok they have now decided on a joint venture! That is a sign of loss of popularity. When start failing to stand on your two feet then just know that you have become weak. Never the less we still await who will lead the coallition. That is the major undertaking, the rest is by the way. who will lead the UPND/MMD pact? Both of their leaders are power hungry, both just want presidency. We await your attempt at the already tried strategy. It never worked in Zambia yet. The other will just be dribled while the other will ride on the conceeding number two. Well, try it.
Let the people of Mufumbwe Vote,then we shall who is popular.
Things fall apart for UPND n MMD.
Bravo PF PF PF.
based on zambian political history which is mainly about worshiping the finger that feeds you, it maybe impossible for the mmd to win the seat if they go ‘solo’. zambian politics is devoid of real issues that affects the people.
Pf die sayz;
Pf die sayz,let all da *****s kno dat nothin gud shal eva cme out of upnd nd hh…if nt selfishness.
MMD, you messed up with your wrong choice after being given an opportunity to represent the humble people of Mufumbwe and you want another opportunity to mess up again! You just need to apologize to the residents of Mufumbwe and give chance to those who were number two after you won. Imagine how much the nation is going to lose after this bye election because of your wrong choice! The onus is on you to swallow the bitter pill and give chance to another party if you want to enter into a pact. If anything, I wish MPs who inconvenience the public by behaving like your MP are not allowed to stand let alone even the party responsible unless proven that there was no carelessness on the Party (MMD) Executive! If anything, it might be well to consider the number two in the previous election.
With Pastor Nevers Mumbwe as leader …..the MMD is going nowhere.
THIS SEAT IS FOR THE OPPOSITION, MMD OR UPND. GUYS THIS IS YOURS, DON’T DANCE TO THE PF CONTROLLED MEDIA TRYING TO MAKE YOU FIGHT, MEET QUIETLY AND LATER RELEASE A JOINT STATEMENT.
Just let each party go it alone. We want to know who is popular in Mufumbwe. You MMD and UPND there is no need of quarreling as to who is popular, let the elections decide. This was also the major problem in the UPND-PF pact, but the elections showed us that PF was popular.
So let each party go it alone not riding on the back of the other..no no no.
MMD and UPND have already had their time and the people of Mufumbwe are ready to work with the BOMA of the day so its obvious whose going to carry the day on 8th November(polling day). Everyone in Mufumbwe is in support of PF including the three chiefs. The question i keep asking myself is which candidate is MMD going to adopt because Masumba was their only saviour for this consistituecy as well as the UPND now that Kamondo Elliot is now in PF. I can not miss this by election, Mufumbwe i am coming to vote on the 8th. My guy Masumba, you have my vote.
If the two parties cannot easily harmionse over a simple seat in Mufumbwe, what about the hot seat, President seat? MMD will claim that they came out second in the last elections while UPND, and you know the arrogance of HH, he will claim that he is the most popular person in Zambia for the seat. Let us wait and see.
As a UPND support I am also of the view that in this particular case it is better for the two parties to participate in Mufumwe elections so the the electrolate decide who is more popular. We need to learn our lessons from the failed PF/UPND pact that sometimes you have to learn to disagree as partners. Just like married couples we have to learn to live with our differences. Agreeing on joint parliamentary participation is not an easy undertaking because each party would like to biuld up momentum by winning. The only way UPND & MMD can resolve such issues is by forming one party but as expected that would be another battle to fight another day.
MOREOVER, MMD AND UPND CAME WITH PANJAS AND MACHHETS LAST TIME WE VOTED IN MUFUMBWE. THESE TWO POLITICAL PARTIES REALLY HARRASED US AND YOU THINK WE HAVE EASILY FORGOTEN, OUR FRIENDS WERE BEATEN, AND WE COULDN’T EVEN WALK FREELY JUS BECAUSE OF YOU. SORRY THIS TIME WE HAVE DECIDED TO GIVE OUR VOTES TO PABWATO.
WE WANT A PEACEFUL ELECTION THIS TIME AROUND AND I CAN ASSURE THESE TWO POLITCAL PARTIES(MMD & UPND) THAT THIS TIME ITS PF TO RULE.\:d/:d
Bravo Mufman.Pf will win the Mufumbwe seat.
Latest information filtering through from unreliable sources, UPND and MMD have agreed to field a neutral in Mufumbwe a Mr H.N Hikamumba. Please join me in wishing the new gentleman good luck.
Hahahahahahahahaha. You have made my day. Lets wait and see how they will vote now.
WE DON’T KNOW NO HIKAMUMBA IN MUFUMBWE. NOW U WILL LOOSE BY A LANDSLIDE, PLEASE TRY AND FIND A CREDIBLE CANDIDATE FOR THIS SEAT BA PACT.LOL. THIS IS JUST LIKE THE AFCON 2012, IT WAS JUST MEANT THAT ZAMBIA WOULD BE VICTORS. PA’ BWATO. :((
Mufman, gosh you mean you cant see the joke in what @msana wanzili has written? I know I have a soft spot for PF but with this kind of ignorance, Hikamumba might just win. Lol H N Hikamumba simply stand for “hakainde, nevers ” and a few letters from their last names. So arrogant and yet so primitive. You are giving the PF a wrong name mate. Read between the lines sometimes before you answer to any postings.
Upnd please field in HH,we want to see his strength.
HH should stand in Mufumbwe against Masumba.
There is need to bring lies that there is a confusion between MMD and UPND, no problem so far, Mulondwe Muzungu poised to win the Mufumbwe bye- election on the UPND ticket, PERIOD.
THIS ISSUE IS BEING DISCUSSED IN THE MEDIA INSTEAD OF PRIVATELY BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES I.E. MMD AND UPND. NEXT WE WILL HEAR THAT IT IS HH’S FAULT THAT THE ALLAINCE BETWEEN THE TWO PARTIES HAS FAILED. THAT IS ZED POLITICS FOR YOU.