MIND YOUR LANGUAGE, KALUMBA ADVISES HH
HAKAINDE Hichilema should tone down and stop demeaning President Edgar Lungu if the proposed dialogue meeting is to take place, former Finance minister Katele Kalumba has advised.
And Patriotic Front (PF) Deputy Media Director, Antonio Mwanza, has disagreed with Mr Hichilema’s claims that he was giving President Lungu sleepless nights, saying the President had more important national issues to attend to than Mr Hichilema who had even failed to organise his party.
Dr Kalumba said on Monday that the proposed dialogue between Mr Lungu and Mr Hichilema could only happen if the two leaders respected each other.
Dr Kalumba told the Daily Nation in a telephone interview there was need for Mr Hichilema to use sober language because there could be no meaningful dialogue without respect.
“My simple advice is that dialogue is based on principles of respect and understanding of the agenda of the meeting. A meeting between two people should be based on openness, respect and trust for each other,” he said.
“Dialogue cannot happen if one side is demeaning or using unacceptable language. So I want to advise my friend, especially Hichilema, that let him respect the Head of State so that the meeting can take place,” Dr Kalumba said.
Dr Kalumba also opposed the proposed involvement of the church mother bodies to preside over the meeting.
He proposed that the meeting should only involve President Lungu and Mr Hichilema so that they could reconcile for the good of the nation because the church mother bodies may have some conflicting interests.
Meanwhie, Mr Mwanza has said it was impossible for President Lungu to be pressured by Mr Hichilema because he had more important national issues to attend to.
He said Mr Hichilema could not be a factor to the president when he had even failed to grow his party.
He was reacting to a statement by Mr Hichilema that he was giving President Lungu sleepless nights in State House.
Mr Hichilema boasted the Head of State was always talking about him because of the amount of pressure he had put on him.
But Mr Mwanza said Mr Hichilema was simply dreaming as President Lungu could not be pressured by a visionless politician.
He said Mr Hichilema could not have allowed his political party to continue to dwindle if he was indeed a serious leader.
“Mr Hichilema had failed to grow the party left by Anderson Mazoka. And I think Mazoka is turning in the grave that the vibrant national party he left has been reduced to a regional cult,” he said.