MWILA WARNS DIVISIVE ASPIRING CANDIDATES

By SANFROSSA MANYINDA and KETRA KALUNGA ASPIRING candidates causing divisions in the Patriotic Front and de-campaigning incumbent Members of Parliament will be disciplined, PF Secretary General Davies Mwila has warned. Mr Mwila said the party would be vigilant to know those that were de-campaigning sitting MPs, stating that anarchy would not be allowed. Some aspiring candidates in many constituencies were causing divisions within the ruling party through their desperate acts to win the support of electorates. Mr Mwila said in an interview that aspiring candidates should sell themselves to the people without causing divisions.  “The PF party is the most attractive that is why a lot of people have shown interest to contest certain seats and we have allowed them. “What we do not want to see is people causing problems for incumbent MPs. The secretariat will not hesitate to move in where such matters are concerned because we always want to maintain law and order in the party,” he said. Mr Mwila explained that allowing aspiring candidates to market themselves did not mean that they were supposed to cause divisions and de-campaign sitting MPs. He said aspiring candidates were only supposed to tell the electorates what they would do for them once elected into office and not say bad things about the sitting MPs. He however maintained that the aspiring candidates were free to campaign as long as they were not decampaining and dividing the party, a situation which he said would not be tolerated. “Let people campaign with honour and allow the party to pick one candidate who will contest depending on how they will sell themselves,” Mr Mwila said. Meanwhile, the PF says it has embarked on a new campaign strategy as an alternative means of drawing people to the party amidst Covid-19. This follows a directive by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for political parties to use alternative means of campaigning rather than rallies to abate the spread of the pandemic. The PF has denied allegations that it has been holding rallies thereby abrogating the Covid-19 guidelines and that its leader and Republican President, Edgar Lungu has been holding rallies every time he takes working visits to provinces across the country.