We’re committed to progressive dialogue-Lubinda

THOSE who want to continue living in an illusion that there is no president will not stop this government from engaging in progressive dialogue, says Minister of Justice Given Lubinda. Mr Lubinda reaffirmed Government’s commitment to the dialogue process after talks with a Commonwealth delegation facilitated by Special Adviser on Political Dialogue Ibrahim Gambari in Lusaka yesterday. He said President Lungu will not take some individual’s negative talks as a hindrance to dialogue and that people are at liberty to maintain the illusion that there is no president as it will not affect the governance of the country. “I would like to reaffirm government’s commitment to progressive dialogue and as government we have always been clear that we want open and honest dialogue. We want dialogue that is not premised on any conditionality,” Mr Lubinda said. Mr Lubinda said there will be no attempts to replace any of the existing structures and that any dialogue that government will engage in must complement existing systems. Mr Lubinda said it was hoped that the Commonwealth would keep in mind that long lasting solutions are those that are home-grown. “We will not experiment foreign ideas, we would rather use ideas that are fostered by Zambians themselves and we are happy Prof Gambari is very alive to that and is totally committed to ensuring that the ones who shall be at the table are Zambians,” he said.