
VETERAN politician Vernon Mwaanga says the MMD’s adopted parliamentary candidates for this year’s tripartite elections are a winning team.
Mr Mwaanga said the opposition is panicking after seeing the high calibre and credibility of the parliamentary candidates the MMD is floating in all the constituencies.
He said in an interview that the list of the adopted parliamentary candidates is a team that will see President Banda and the MMD remain in Government.
The MMD has released the list of its adopted parliamentary candidates that has seen the inclusion of professors, doctors, economists, academicians, social scientists, engineers, lawyers, and businessmen among others.
Mr Mwaanga said President Banda will have a wide option in selecting ministers that will form his first new cabinet after having largely inherited late President Mwanawasa’s cabinet in 2008.
Mr Mwaanga, who is Parliamentary Chief Whip and political strategist, said the MMD list of candidates has left opposition political parties in panic because they know that they are up against a formidable and credible team of candidates.
He said opposition political parties are startled by the rich and experienced team the MMD has assembled.
He stated that the difference between the MMD candidates and those that will be adopted by the opposition will be like day and darkness.
Mr Mwaanga said President Banda and the MMD are headed for victory in the coming general elections because of the confidence the people have in the ruling party.
He said there have been many political analysts who have placed President Banda and the MMD ahead of other presidential aspirants and that it will not come as a surprise for the Head of State to be re-elected with a wider margin than in the previous election.
Mr Mwaanga said all indicators are pointing to President Banda as the most preferred candidate.
He said contrary to assertions that the ruling party had difficulties in its adoptions because most of the applicants were not appealing, the MMD had a lot of credible aspirants wishing to stand on the party’s ticket.
Mr Mwaanga said the ruling party has left out a lot of credible candidates because not all of them could be adopted.
He said the MMD has a large reservoir of human resource and that it not possible for the party to lack people to adopt.
Mr Mwaanga also dispelled assertions that most MMD members avoided to apply for constituencies in Lusaka because they feared losing to the PF.
He said Lusaka Province had about 47 applicants for the 12 parliamentary seats.
“So to assert that the MMD did not have people to adopt in Lusaka is not factual and a fallacy. We had 47 applicants for Lusaka Province and you would be surprised that for the local government seats, we have more than 200 aspirants wanting to be part of the MMD leadership at local government level. It was a difficult job for the national executive committee (NEC) to select candidates,” Mr Mwaanga said.
He said he was involved in the interviewing process of aspiring candidates in Lusaka Province.
[Zambia Daily Mail]