MPS crucial to national development, says DNA
MEMBERS of Parliament play a critical role in the national development process as they represent both Government and their respective constituencies, Zambian DNA spokesperson Spuki Mulemwa has said.
Mr Mulemwa said therefore long absences of MPs from their constituencies created a vacuum in the process of delivering development in their areas.
He said MPs were the eyes and ears of the Executive arm of Government in their respective constituencies.
In an interview Mr Mulemwa said, MPs should interact with the people in their respective constituencies to know their needs.
Mr Mulemwa said most of the MPs from Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, Central and Lusaka provinces had demonstrated that they had been elected to deliver development to their respective constituencies.
He said the behaviour of these MPs was highly commendable and attributable to President Edgar Lungu, who, like his predecessor the late Micheal Sata, advised his MPs to visit their constituencies whenever Parliament was on recess.
Mr Mulemwa however expressed displeasure with some MPs inclined to partisan politics instead of performing their duties in their respective constituencies.
Mr Mulemwa said some MPs who shunned their constituencies did do at their own peril.
“Surprisingly, these MPs, who fail to represent their electorates, have become armchair critics of government excluding themselves, yet they are part of Government,” Mr Mulemwa said.
He said the Zambian DNA was of the view that Zambia would only develop when MPs performed their representative roles effectively.