MMD CENSURES UNRULY MPS
By KALOBWE BWALYA THE continued character assassination and hate speech should not have a place in parliament which is meant for serious business, MMD national coordinator Gerald Chiluba has said.
Mr Chiluba said the MMD die hard youth wing has appealed to the Speaker of the National Assembly Dr Patrick Matibini to censure the language of members of Parliament to avoid unnecessary provocation in the August house.
In a statement, Mr Chiluba said Parliament was not meant for settling scores, but a place of serious business of passing and endorsing legislative policies aimed at improving the wellbeing of Zambians.
He said the conduct of MPs should be exemplary to the citizens because people needed to have confidence in the house and that could not happen if MPs failed to guard against being provocative and the use of insulting language.
Mr Chiluba further noted that Parliament proceedings were published and broadcasted live on radio and television. There was need therefore for members to guard against using abusive language as members of the public including school-going children usually listened to the radio.
Mr Chiluba urged Dr Matibini not to allow the integrity and the reputation of Parliament to be jeopardised due to the egos of a few MPs with personal issues and uncontrolled tongues, but rather remain committed to promoting healthy talks and language so as to maintain the stature and effectiveness of the house.
“We don’t want to destroy the moral fabric of the wide national listenership that includes children and school going youths. Leaders are emulated, hence what type of role models are we portraying that use provocative unpalatable insults and hate speech in parliament.
"We are appealing to the speaker to share the commitment to work towards the achievement of a more interpersonal and peaceful environment in Parliament that enables MPs to use respectable language and debate matters that have a direct bearing on the citizenry,” said Mr Chiluba.
“It is indeed a matter of deep regret that at this critical moment in the life of our Parliament some MPs have chosen to subordinate national interests in favor of narrow personal political vengeance,” he said.