
Opposition political party leaders have rejected the suggestion by NAREP president Elias Chipimo to have a neutral government run the country for a limited period of nine months to preside over the enactment of a new constitution and oversee fresh elections.
UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema has told Qfm News that the priority for the country now is the having a new constitution.
Mr. Hichilema says what is needed is to mobilize the people of Zambia to get a people driven constitution and not the concept of having an interim government.
He says if the Patriotic Front government fails to give the people of Zambia a constitution, the next government come 2016 will be able to give the people of Zambia a constitution.
Mr. Hichilema says UPND’s agenda is very clear which is to remedy the evils of the Pf government but will do that in the right way, stating that his party will not take part in anything that will not solve any problem.
And People’s Party President Mike Mulongoti says suggestions outside the current constitution are not welcome much as people are entitled to their own opinions.
Mr. Mulongoti says the constitution does not allow for a neutral person to run the country for nine months.
Mr. Mulongoti says already there is an opposition alliance as a way forward for the opposition to fight an election as a united force.
He says he will take the suggestion by Mr. Chipimo as an opinion and not as the way to go.
And Alliance for Better Zambia (ABZ) President Frank Bwalya says the Idea by the NAREP leader is not workable.
Fr. Bwalya says politicians should begin to think of workable plans if Zambians have to get the final draft constitution released.
And Forum for Democracy and Development Spokesperson Antonio Mwanza says the proposal is a non starter.
Loopy Chipimo’s proposal rejected outright by his peers.
Coup plotter- im-puti isula taibula kubwekeshapo.
The problem with opposition parties is that they have no capacity to mobilise. If they are by now they should have mobilised the masses around the constitution . But all they do is meet at the cathederal for” prayers”. Are sure you need GOD to mobilse . Do not misuse GOD’s temple. He gave you the ability but you failing to use them. Do you really need GOD to discuss with PF on the matters of the constitution. ? You are just poor mass mobilisers. You need the skills of Julius Malema.
Juju! Lol, you are so right.
Elias Chipimo now is showing his desperation. How can you have two governments? We build the second state house? Another ECZ? Remove PF? Isn’t a treasonable issue coz you want to remove a democratically elected govt unconstitutionally.
I personally think what NAREP proposed is what can give Zambia a constitution. Under the current constitution, even if u put HH now he won’t give us a constitution because he will be enjoying constitution powers. NAREP have come up with a workable plan and a compromise should be done to allow for that. The opposition leaders quoted so far have not provided an alternative hence they should keep quiet. I doubt if there is anything they will do which will compel the government to give Zambia a constitution. I always blame the learned late Mwanawasa……He had the credentials to give us a constitution but he took a political route and died on the journey. If he acted as a lawyer, this constitution issue could be celebrating at least 8 years of existence. Constitution battle continues!
I surely hear a voice of wisdom and selflessness in Elias Chipimo. The opposition leaders screaming loudest about the Opposition Alliance have a terrible past record in even respecting the basic agreements of an alliance. HH nad PF alliance, what happened? When Nevers was shown a silver spoon by Levy Mwanawasa, what happened? He even became so greedy and power hungry that it had to take Levy Mwanawasa to use commando tactics to stop his insatiable appetite for power. As an ambassador in Canada, what were his achievements.
UNIP/MMD alliance? What a joke!!! Check the background of some of the so called leaders of political parties. A lot of them have spent most of their life time jumping from branch to branch in search of an olive branch; worse than that monkey that peeeed on His…
It is not easy to mobilize people who are hardworking to better their lives. People are not going to eat the new constitution just to borrow a phrase from the opposition who are against the road development currently on course. People are daily on buses to buy fish, kapenta and other merchandise to sell. The same roads the opposition are against are the same ones making business more efficient. Ati teti tulye imisebo? Very sick in the heads indeed.
IF ALL THE ZAMBIANS ARE SURELY UNITED WITH THE OPPOSITION WHY IS IT DIFFICULT FOR THE CURRENT OPPOSITION TO MOBILISE THEM IN MASSES OVER THE CONSTITUTION? I THINK THE MAJORITY OF ZAMBIANS DO NOT SUPPORT THE CAUSE OF THE OPPOSITION. I AM NOT SAYING WE DON’T NEED A NEW CONSTITUTION. THE PROBLEM IS THE MOTIVE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE SEEMINGLY CHAMPIONING IT.
Did Elias Chipimo Jr consult his colleagues in the opposition before hatching this rather ‘strange’ idea? This is the problem with being a Lone Ranger.
Kanshi what’s wrong with Chipimo mwebantu?
Chipimo has realised that he can never win an election even in the near future. This is the problem with our so called political leaders in Africa. They think ” if I cant have it, no one should have it.” I don’t know why people even wonder why Africa has not developed with this character in our DNA. SHAME!
Come on don’t misunderstand the man. get the facts before publishing such
What if come 2016 pf still wins the elections. what are you all going to do. to me this is the most sincere position any well meaning political party can take looking at the behaviour of the pf government. what? are you God to think that you can not change or are you a saint to think that you are not like others. let us guarantee the end of this much needed event through a land slide defeat of the pf by the ballot. history has taught us that it is foolishness to entrust such responsibility to an individual. NEW APPLE idea can be worked on to suite the current legal framework with a sole purpose of winning the election and ushering in a new people’s driven constitution. Once this is attained government desolves automatically for a new error.
stop thinking with you bellies.
Simple arithmetic teaches me a simple principle of “unfounded” of greedy people with a sole purpose filling their bellies and bank accounts;
1 greedy fool + 1 greedy fool = One Greater Greedy Fool
1 thinker – 1 000 united scatter brains = 1000 Bigger Thinkers = development & progress
Amen
Brother chipimo keep those weird thoughts to your self, unity of purpose is the only way to go , pf is weak and beatable
the idea hatched by chipimo is the most workable one in zambia as at now.believe me u opposition leaders don,t think it,ll be easy to unseat the pf govt.don,t think they,ll just let u assume office like the way banda did to them.it,ll be so tricky because u r dealing with thugs who need a united opposition to remove them from office.swallow yo pride guys and heed chipimo,s suggestion.hh mike don,t travel on the trail of pomp coz on yo own guys u can,t win an election.don,t be decieved by some crowds u gather at the court an eletion is a total different undertaking of which if lose u,ll ve to wait for another 5yrs.plz guys look at the way zambia has become,just unite that,s the only way to go.
The problem is that once you give the instruments of power to an interim president (another Shumbu), he will enjoy power so much quickly and consolidate his grip on power, given the culture of arrogance raised to another level by the PF. Then it will be fighting this shumbu for ages to have him give up power as there is no constitutional provision for the agreement.
This is the same situation Fred Mmembe’s cartel finds itself in today. They supported Sata to put him in power and rule for just a term and give up power to whoever the cartel wants (Wynter kabimba) but Sata now is refusing and consolidating his power to have his son replace him.
The opposition are useless! They cannot organise mass mobilisation..why? It is because people are happy with PF . If the masses are not happy with PF it would have been easy to it the way KK was removed. But alas ….VIVA PF!!
I really do not know what Elias Chipimo was thinking when he decided to go public with his “Blue Print”. The facts are that Mr. Chipimo’s party does not have a single representation in Parliament, he may have a following somewhere but there has to be legitimate representation when such ideas are hatched. Even so, its even more worrisome that a person with supposedly good understanding of the legal system could come up with something like this. I am not a fan of HH but I have tremendous respect for his decision to fight the system within the legal framework that exists, however flawed. He is doing it the right way and because he has a legitimate following (parliamentary seats and constituents to go with those), stands a much better chance to get to plot one than Chipimo.
*********************THIS IS A PROPOSAL.******************************
DO U THINK A SCATTERED OPPOSITION CAN WIN ELECTIONS AS IT IS IN ZAMBIA TODAY.
LETS THINK TWICE, OTHERWISE IT IS A FAR- FETCHED THING.
PF HAS ALREADY STATED THAT IMPLEMENTATION OF DRAFTED CONSTITUTION IS NOT A PRIORITY.
Ba Chipimo, I thought you are a lawyer. Your proposal is not within the confines of the current laws, the constitution! It is just like those who wanted to have Barotseland Agreement. What legal framework can you use to implement these ideas? Where is the legal recourse?
Chipimo’s suggestion is not provided for in the current constitution, so how do you hope to get round this legal hurdle? Or is it a matter of just exercising your freedom of speech and, as Mike says, expressing your opinion?
After 2016, I will take this comment and frame it and send it to the papers because I will want you all to remember this.
The truth is it is within any RULING PARTY that wants to continue ruling to control the constitutional process. This allows them to use government institutions to run the government to their end as an administration and as a political party.
The Patriotic Front will not work on the constitution, and truth is there is no legal structure that can force them to do so. This means that they will do it when it is actually convenient for them to do it. Zambians have a habit of forgetting pain and remembering the now. PF will be praised if they work on the constitution come 2016. That’s the truth!!
And truth be told, UPND, MMD will not win the 2016 election. NAREP as…
Continued….as an opposition will continue to grow while these two parties continue to dwindle in irrelevance because NAREP however small offers the only leadership that will take Zambia into the future.
President Elias Chipimo proposed an interim government with the full understanding of the legal and political climate of the country. Zambian politics ALWAYS favors the party running the current government to be re-elected. If the PF is sure of their victory in 2016, they will not feel pressured to provide a constitution what will happen is that once they win 2nd term we will continue with the same issues. What the proposal by Chipimo does is that it identifies the possibility of the PF continuing to rule Zambia after 2016, and also takes into account that the next largest party (UPND)…
Continued… ) if they won elections would also follow the same path as Michael Sata. To avoid this, you will have to sell the ideal of an Interim government,. So that even if politics went back to usual at least some major ‘ intelligent” policies have been enacted that even if PF or UPND won, it won’t be so much of an issue because the interim government already passed a constitution and already put into place the necessary structures that if left to politicians won’t be implemented.
Chipimo is a lawyer, he should be the last person to be suggesting illegal happenings in the country. What has happened to the opposition in the country? Most of these guys in opposition are panicking instead of concentrating on real issues affecting the nation. It is almost three years and most of these parties have not made any positive impact in any by-elections held so far because of weak leadership, they have fallen into the trap of condemning Sata as an individual without offering any credible solutions except useless theories which sound Utopian in Zambian sense, like Chipimo’s idea. These guys need to start explaining to the people what they can do better, PF infrastructure strategy is hard to beat because people appreciate what they can see and touch not some theory or…
Most Zambian politicians do not understand what the term ‘opposition’ mean. They think registering a political party automatically makes them opposition to the ruling party, which is a big mistake!
Any party with no representation in parliament is NOT an opposition party, it is merely a political movement because it cannot make any impact to the proceedings in parliament when they are enacting new laws. NAREP is full of green politicians who have no idea how politics play out, you can make as much noise as you can , they will ignore you if are not in parliament! Having a good orator in parliament to represent a party is good way to sell your party, people like Shakafuswa should be avoided, he has done more damage to UPND then they realise and it could cost them 2016!