President Michael Sata, has dismissed assertions that the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) government is inducing parliamentary by-elections.
President Sata, who described the claims as idle and trivial speculation urged those criticising the concept of by-elections to be clear-headed and honest when expressing their views.
“Our Constitution is clear on the circumstances and procedures under which parliamentary or local government by-elections are permissible. And all registered political parties are at liberty to exercise their Constitutional right to participate in any subsequent contest that might arise,” President Sata says.
“Therefore, as an administration devoted to the rule of law, we find this deliberate attempt to debate democracy and its price, mischievous and time-wasting. As far as we are concerned we have not violated any law and we see no grounds for such blatant pretence from the critics of this legally recognized act.”
The Head of State wondered what critics of by-elections wanted the government to do in situations where an elected representative dies, crossover, resigns or loses an election petition in Court.
“These are straightforward matters and we should not play to the gallery on such essential affairs of governance. As leaders we should embrace sincerity and constantly endeavour to provide direction in the search for viable remedies to the numerous challenges facing our people,” President Sata says.
“The PF government remains steadfast to the concept of inclusivity and open its doors to all stakeholders as we seek to address the social and economic challenges to create a better Zambia for all in line with our party manifesto.”
The President reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to deepening democracy, equality and respect for the will of the Zambian people.
President Sata thanked all political stakeholders who have chosen the interests of the Zambian people ahead of meaningless partisanship.
Well said sir ! Democracy is not cheap.We just have to accept this bad side of it.
Now bonse basunsumana, seating up, look right-look left Fr. Bwalya is in the house!! Yellow card ba Yama.
Of all the provisions in our constitution, Why are political programs the only ones religiously observed, followed & implemented to the letter?
How about alleviation of poverty, provision of social services, schools, health, sanitation, security, right to life etc
Are these not constitutional enough to require pragmatic and immediate attention by the govt?
Mr President, Stop playing politics with people’s lives and immediately provide these basic services of life or you are a one term party/govt/ president
As much as the Pf are within the comfines of the law i think they have encouraged the defects to this extent. To me this bring about a sense of wonder concerning the defecting mps are they leaving becouse they can no longer rip off mmd or they want to bring development which they so evidently faild to do before.
The opposition and other arm chair critics should not blame the PF for having an attractive development agenda which all citizens are beginning to appreciate. The is no way any MP worth his salt can remain under the leadership of fake pastor Mumba who is going nowhere slowly. The people of Zambia want service delivery and only the PF has the machinery to provide development owing to their rich manifesto. If UPND had a future people would also defect to it but because HH is another clueless tribal chap alas only the PF provides that all inclusive vehicle for the Zambia’s prosperity.
You are a fool whose brains are full of water. Cant you see the immorality in what PF is doing? Which manifesto are you talking about? By the way I need an honest and factual answer from you. Have you ever heard HH engage in tribal trivialities? I need a quote from which ever source not the usual generalised POST generated lies! Where you not in Zambia when your Sata used to ask Dipak Patel to state which village, Chief and tribe he hailed from to be called Zambian? PF is the most useless tribal organisation Zambia has ever had. It has the most clueless and mediocre leadership that one can ever get on earth! This zambia will be worse off under PF than under Kaunda. What a joke!
PF will in the end be the losers as monies meant for development would have been swallowed by the numerous by-elections.
@ Prof, for someone as articulate and well written (if ever there’s such), am appalled by your carder traits. What service delivery is in turning from your campaign promises (upon which a party was elected to office) to moving on auto-pilot and spitting in the face of electorate by changing from as simple things as trimming down cabinet to increasing it to as many as 3 deputy ministers in some ministries…
And like Heya, I challenge you to give me a factual and honest answer as to when HH engaged in tribal trivialities worse than our President has displayed in the recent and distant past, or just any form for that matter. I personally attended a wedding where our current President (before being elected to office) was engaging in open tribalism.
If it’s the manifesto, won’t…
How does an MP. Belonging to the ruling party help the people in his constituency?
i think he has explained clearly and plain. well done Sir!
This is where fuel subsidy money is now going. I now see clearly.
When you can’t beat them join them. When levy adopted Opposition Mps to Ministrial positions It was wrong in your eyes bwana and you spoke the loudest. 5yrs down the line its constitutional and okey? where is your intergrity Bwana Presido. anyhow sankata ilyo noko acilipo
What will shock me is if this clause is maintained in the new constitution. For now we can allow the loopholes to be exploited in the name of “budgeted for” and “constitutional”. Kick your backsides hard if you allow this nonsense to go on in the new dispensation.
ITS now becoming true what Fr. Bwalya said on this man our President, SATA we voted for is dead, the SATA WHO IS STATE HOUSE is a disappointment to this country the man is being controlled by this young man GEORGE CHELLAH who does not care what happens to him, SATA he has differed with all NGOs WHO supported him to be what he is today bcoz he is dragging his own way not he promised them to uphold after elections. CARITAS ZAMBIA is one those NGOs who went flat out to campaign for SATA and today they have issued a statement condemning these useless by-elections, but SATA is fooled by POST jst to create one party state
The man needs to take ethics into account. What is legal can be ethically wrong.
Absolutely! Well said.
He must equally look at the moral side of this foolish scheme of poaching these brainless opposition MPs. He cant claim that what he is doing is constitutional unless he is morally decayed !!
What a joke… Like I keep saying: Our undoing as Zambians is our short selective memory.
Our President used to see the poaching of MPs in the Mwanawasa dispensation as bad and wrong, does it mean he didn’t know what the constitution said about it then?
Cry my beloved Zambia and my blind following, party worshipping compatriots.
Zambians are more educated, knowledgeable and well informed than Sata and his cronies. Let him not justify wrong things. We are not dull like him. It is being myopic and incorrigible for Sata to say what he is saying. Even a child knows that all these bye-elections are deliberately being induced by Sata for his selfish interests at the expense of national development. Countries like Botswana and Namibia, to mention a few , are where they are because their leaders are selfless and see things beyond their noses unlike the dull PF leaders whose main interest of being in govt is to enrich themselves at whatever cost. SHAME !
Well said. Couldn’t have put it better myself.
Sir, you have said it all.
Isn’t this relic supposed to be dead according to President Father Bwalya.? Sata has no moral compass. He behaves like the money he is wasting is his or his mothers. Sata is very useless and a waste of space. The biggest mistake Levy ever made was to evacuate this relic to SA in 2007. And now because of him the nation is going to be destroyed. I have never seen somebody so irresponsible, vile and hateful!
The arrogance expressed by Mr Sata dipicts his ‘Donchi Kubeba’ deceptive culture he has enshrined in the nation which in the end will earn Zambia as an untrustworthy people. A nation akin to deception. Mr president sir, no one doubts what the constitution says on by-elections and manners in which that may come about. However, to deceive the nation and misapply, misunderstand, misinform and miscrue that part of the constitution at the expence of service delivery to the needy Zambians is unforgivable and insulting to Zambians. Development to Zambia as a whole by a sitting government is not based on how many by-elections are won by the party in power. Mr Sata is not president less parts of Zambia that are not PF members. Mr Sata is president of the whole Zambia and his effort to deliver…
Dear mr.President,if u had given us a new constitution in 90days as promised we cld not bin experiencing all this confusion.Yuo decided 2 dilly dally bcz u had to wait for a tym like this one.Sir,whatever justifications u can put across the bottom line is that these by elections are a cost to this God forsaken nation called zambia.
Donchi Kubeba is a cabbage !! LOL !! What a pile S..T !!
This man is fool. I regret voting for him.
Ati, we may need change but not this stupid tonga! Bring back the thieving call boy from the dead!
It is urbsurd for Sata to even try and defend these unscrupulous acts of deceiving Zambians. Govt should follow the “spirit and letter” of the Law. Clearly the Sata’s position ignoring the spirit behind the particular constitutional provisions as we are all clear that the constitution did not account for such huge numbers of shameless political prostitute at the time. Otherwise more clearer provisions would have been constituted to safeguard public resources.
And in Levy’s case (which Sata is manipulating) one can argue that there was no need to induce opposition to defect, but rather the “spirit” in his appointments was that for national interests and such appointments where far in between.
Sata is as shameless as the prostitutes he is welcoming.
We love you Sir may You you live long….
How on earth can you have a president of a country ranked about 160 on the UN development Index, who does not see anything wrong in causing unnecessary bye-elections. Wow!
I have always said this, and please mark my words, after Sata is done, Zambia will be 30 to 40 years backward. Right now Zambia is being run like we are in the 1950s. Sata his relatives have no clue on how to run a country I a 21st century.
I really pity Zambia.
Why is it that its only opposition MPs who are crossing the floor? We seriously need leaders not politicians who are busy deceiving the poor and the uneducated that for development will only come when one is in the ruling party, that’s a misleading and misguided statement because the guys (politicians) are given the mandate to run and manage the country’s affairs, so they are not doing a favor to us the tax payers as well as electorates. Politics in Zambia has been seen as a way to get rich, its so because the constitution is weak in some areas and this has made the country to rag behind in terms of development. Its really disheartening to hear someone justifying those causing unnecessary By-elections. Our politicians luck integrity, principles and the moral fiber to serve the nation!!!
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