UPND PLANS TO DERAIL NDF BILL SLAMMED
THE
UPND must stop being petty and stop inciting its MPs to derail the National Democratic Forum (NDF) Bill by voting against it in Parliament because this is a national event which must be tackled with level-headedness, the Zambia Direct Democracy Movement (ZDDM) has said.
The UPND has vowed to ensure that the bill does not pass in Parliament because “it is a PF document” and does not reflect the views of the majority Zambians but a shear wastage if time and resources. UPND spokesperson Charles Kakoma said the ruling party should have stricken a balance by agreeing with stakeholders on the process and modalities of the NDF so that once consensus was brokered, it would be easy to make the bill pass in Parliament. Mr. Kakoma said not even the arrogance of numbers that the PF boasted in Parliament would save the situation because the Constitutional two-third majority vote provision was not attainable. He said Government and its allies would realise that the whole process was a sham and a sheer waste of time and resources. “The product of that sham NDF cannot be recognised by us and therefore, our role in Parliament is to reject that bill because it is a PF bill which lacks consensus and legitimacy,” Mr. Kakoma claimed. But speaking to the Daily Nation yesterday, ZDDM leader Edwin Sakala said those who purposefully stayed away from the forum must stop inciting parliamentarians to shoot down the bill. Mr. Sakala said it would be negativity of the greatest order for the UPND to instruct its MPs to derail the bill when its leaders have been condemning the Constitution. “They were presented with an opportunity to have an input in the Constitution but they refused serve for a few of its MPs who defied their directive to shun the forum. Since they decided not to be part of ten deliberations, let them just shut up and allow the process to conclude. He said all those who shunned the NDF must stop commenting on the outcome since they had no business with it.