CENTRAL COMMITTEE, ALLOW ALL PF PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES WIN OR LOSE FAIRLY

MA T E RO Member of Parliament and PF Presidential aspirant, Miles Bwalya Sampa has made a very passionate defence of his membership rights including the right to contest the party’s presidency in the forthcoming general conference in March 2023 (Daily Nation, November 24 2022).

Mr Sampa was responding to the announcement by Economic and Equity Party President Chilufya Tayali on the non-eligibility of Mr Sampa, Dr Chishimba Kambwili and GBM in the forthcoming conference.

I fully support Mr Sampa to enjoy his right to contest the party presidency, though I have serious doubts on his chances of winning as well as his potential chance of delivering victory to the PF in the 2026 general elections.

One thing which is not clear is when and who appointed Mr Tayali as commissioner of the PF Electoral Commission. Mr Tayali is simply confirming the public perception that his party is just a surrogate of PF, otherwise his statements hinge on matters that are in-house and are far beyond his oneman party.

A statement by Mr Tayali, no matter lacking authenticity is connected to reliable sources that are afraid to speak officially because of the repercussions.

The issue of who qualifies should not be left up till the general conference, but sorted out before the end of 2022, so that there is a clear and official list of duly nominated candidates as the countdown begins in January 2023.

In the interest of healing and building unity and cohesion, the PF central committee should consider taking political decisions rather than legal decisions.

One of these political decisions is to ensure that all those who have paid nominations fees are allowed to contest so that they can win or lose fairly.