Zambia not Zimbabwe, Hichilema told

ZAMBIA is a democratic state which has always held transparent elections in which Mr Hichilema has failed five times, Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) President, Edwin Sakala has said.

Mr Sakala said it is therefore wishful thinking for Mr Hichilema to assume that the happenings in Zimbabwe could eventually occur in Zambia.

UPND for National Development (UPND) president Hakainde Hichilema yesterday was quoted in the media claiming that what was happening in Zimbabwe where President Robert Mugabe was forced into resigning, could happen in Zambia.

He said that President Lungu was surrounded by misguided people, while the majority of the citizenry were not in support of him.

But, Mr Sakala said that it was unwise for Mr Hichilema to make such assertions as Zambia has had free and fair elections since the introduction of democracy in the country.

He stated that Mr Hichilema should not try to use short cuts to get into power as he had failed to do so democratically through the ballot.

“Zambia is a democratic state, so I advise my brother to just work towards 2021 like all of us are doing, he has tried the courts, he has tried threats of Armageddon, but none of those things have worked, as a matter of fact President Lungu was democratically elected, it was clearly the will of the people and you cannot fight it through short cuts,” Mr Sakala said.

He said President Lungu was serving his legal term under the constitution and free and fair elections would still be held in 2021.

Mr Sakala said that there was no way that such a situation would happen in Zambia as the country had changed government each time people felt change was necessary.

“We have been changing governments and everyone knows that we had UNIP, MMD and now the PF in government and we do not know which party will be in power in 2021, so Zambia is a democratic state unlike the situation we had in Zimbabwe where the ZANUPF was in government since independence,” he said.

Mr Sakala further advised Mr Hichilema to be patient and added that if he (Hichilema) had Majority support from Zambians it would only be revealed through the ballot in 2021.