MMD chairperson for elections Mike Mulongoti says the crumbling of the UPND/ PF Pact has led to the ruling party gaining ground in Lusaka and other urban areas which were the strongholds for the opposition in the past.

And Patriotic Front (PF) Matero Member of Parliament (MP) Faustina Sinyangwe has said Zambians should not waste their time to vote for the UPND-PF Pact because it was like a divided house that could not stand firm and deliver the desired fruits to its children.

Mr Mulongoti said most people had lost confidence in the two opposition parties and have pledged to rally behind MMD in the 2011 presidential and parliamentary elections and the forthcoming by-election in Chilanga.

“Lusaka is no longer a stronghold of the opposition as they have managed to de-campaign themselves through the Pact which just exists in name.

“The MMD has managed to reform and that people have seen the works that the ruling party is doing while the opposition are just offering lips service,” Mr Mulongoti said.

He said the party would win the two vacant seats during the forth coming parliamentary by-elections in Chilanga and Mpulungu.

[pullquote]“Lusaka is no longer a stronghold of the opposition as they have managed to de-campaign themselves through the Pact which just exists in name.

“The MMD has managed to reform and that people have seen the works that the ruling party is doing while the opposition are just offering lips service,” Mr Mulongoti said.[/pullquote]

He said the MMD was currently searching for candidates for the two vacant seats and that silent campaigns were going on.

Mrs Sinyangwe said the quarrelling over positions that had rocked the pact would worsen, if they formed Government.

“So Zambians should not waste their time to elect a Government that would spend most of the time fighting for positions, instead of improving people’s lives,” Mrs Sinyangwe said.

Mrs Sinyangwe was commenting on the deepening wrangles in the UPND-PF Pact, said the wrangles that had rocked the pact was a clear indication that some individuals were only interested in positions and not service delivery.

She said the calibre of some MPs left much to be desired and the challenge was on the Zambians to raise the standards of politics in the country by electing into public office individuals with good calibre.

“If we became serious and start looking at the calibre of people we elect into public offices, we can raise the standards of politics in our country, but the problem is that we want to vote to fix certain individuals or just for the sake of change like some people are saying now that they want change.
Even if it is change, we should not change
for the worst,” she said.
And former PF chairperson for mobilisation of the Committee of Founders pressure group Mubanga Chileshe, who was last year beaten and assaulted for opposing the formation of the pact, said he had been vindicated going by what is happening to the pact now.
Times of Zambia

The MMD says National Executive Committee (NEC) Interviewing Team will this weekend sit in Mpulungu district in the Northern Province where its preferred candidate will be named.

MMD Elections Chairman Mike Mulongoti says it has received applicants from its members with intentions to contest the Mpulungu Parliamentary seat.

Mr. Mulongoti told ZANIS in an interview in Lusaka today that the party was satisfied with the favourable response it was receiving from both the people and those wishing to contest on ruling party ticket.

“As a party, we are naming our candidate to contest the Mpulungu parliamentary seat this coming weekend. Our NEC Team will be travelling to Mpulungu to name our preferred candidate and we are happy with the response the MMD is receiving from the applicants,” he said.

And Mr. Mulongoti has disclosed that the ruling party will soon name its candidate to contest the Chilanga Parliamentary seat.

He explained that the MMD started the naming process very late and attributed the delay to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) declaring the seat as vacant very late.

And Mr. Mulongoti has dispelled media reports that MMD Northern Province Chairman Grievous Sikasote has been requested by the party to step down to enable him contest the Mpulungu seat.

He however said the MMD is a democratic party that allowed divergent views from the people.

The ECZ has set October 28, this year as the date for Parliamentary by-elections for both Chilanga and Mpulungu seats respectively.

The Mpulungu seat fell vacant following the death of area MP Mr. Chibombamilimo while the Chilanga seat fell vacant after the expulsion of area MP and former Finance and National Planning Minister Ng’andu Magande from the ruling MMD party for gross indiscipline.

Mr. Chibombamilimo who died in India after an illness was Deputy Minister of Energy and water Development.

ZANIS

MISA Zambia 2010 report has revealed that the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting Services is the most secretive government institution for having an outdated website and failure to respond to written requests.

The 2010 report on the Most Open and Secretive government institutions in Zambia revealed that none of the government and public institutions qualified to be awarded the most open.

It also pointed out that out of the government line ministries; which include Ministry of Education, Transport and Communication, Finance and National Planning, Information and Broadcasting Services (MIBS) and Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ as a public institution) surveyed non of them qualifies to be the most open.

Launching the Report in Lusaka today, Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) Interim Chairperson Fanwell Tembo said the research conducted indicates that the Ministry of Education could have been the most open institution for 2010 if it had not failed to provide functional website which he described was the major criteria for the research.

Mr Tembo disclosed that Ministry of Education was closer to openness and responded to the citizen’s request for information despite not having a functional website.

He named the Ministry of Communications and Transport, Ministry of Finance and National Planning, and ECZ for the well resourced websites which he said were bent on providing the public with necessary and useful information.

He noted that had the three institutions provided information to those who may not have access to ICTs through proactive disclosure and responded to written requests, they would have been among the most open.

[pullquote]He accused MISA personnel of diverting public attention from the problems, the organisation was facing.[/pullquote]

ECZ scooped this year’s newly added award called e-Governance Award, which was for institutions utilising Information Communication Technology (ICTs) for the better provision of information to the public.

But Chief Government Spokesperson Ronnie Shikapwasha has described the MISA report as inaccurate and biased. Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha challenged MISA-Zambia to sort out its internal wrangles first than ‘witch’ hunting. Commenting on the Report released to the media today, Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha dismissed the report saying it lacked accuracy and was unfounded.

He accused MISA personnel of diverting public attention from the problems, the organisation was facing.

Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha said MISA was being insincere by choosing to overlook positive developments, policies, and legislatives that Government had continued to undertake and to enhance public access to information.

Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha said in a statement released today that: “it was clear from the tone of the report that MISA’s primary aim was malice and ill will against government.”

[pullquote]Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha said in a statement released today that: “it was clear from the tone of the report that MISA’s primary aim was malice and ill will against government.”[/pullquote]

Lt-Gen. Shikapwasha, who is also Information and Broadcasting Services Minister noted that information was the primary product of any media organisation adding that the multiplicity of media houses was an indication that information was not only available but also accessible with Government being a principal source.

He said efforts and measures taken by Government in information provision confirm its unwavering commitment to facilitating the growth of the media and information sector in the country for a well informed populace.

He said Government appreciated the important role information played in national development and that it would continue working and investing in the media industry to ensure an informed and enlightened society.

[ZANIS]

United Party for National Development (UPND) National youth coordinator, Joe Kalusa has said Patriotic Front (PF) leader Michael Sata is a “tired old man” who should never be allowed to rule this country.

Mr Kalusa also described as insulting and disappointing the statement by Patriotic Front (PF) National youth Secretary Eric Chanda, that Michael Sata is more popular than Hakainde Hichilema.

Mr Chanda has been quoted in a daily tabloid as having stated that the UPND’s claim for the Pact presidency beats common sense because the PF leader is more popular that the UPND one.

[pullquote]He has also accused the PF of “sugar coating” its stay in the pact adding that the recent suspension given to Mr Chanda was just a way of hoodwinking the UPND.
[/pullquote]
The UPND National youth chairperson said things are not alright in the pact and the PF should take responsibility for the predicament that the pact has found itself in because they are the ones who have continued attacking the UPND leader.

Mr Kalusa said the PF general secretary, Winter Kabimba has contributed to the killing the pact.

The pact leadership has remained mute over the wrangles despite calls by various stakeholders that they speak out and be heard to provide harmony to the shaky political marriage the two parties have gone into.

He has also accused the PF of “sugar coating” its stay in the pact adding that the recent suspension given to Mr Chanda was just a way of hoodwinking the UPND.

But Mr Kalusa last week showered words of praise on Mr Sata stating that he was equally good to stand as the 2011 elections candidate.

[ QFM ]