MMD Members of Parliament have rebutted a Zambia Daily Mail story of yesterday that quoted party President Nevers Mumba as having admitted that 30 of his MPs were planning to defect to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).
Speaking at a press briefing at the MMD secretariat in Lusaka today, MMD Solwezi Central Member of parliamentary Lucky Mulusa claimed Dr. Mumba was misquoted saying the 30 MPs will not cross over to the PF.
He said the former ruling party has since written a letter to the management of the Zambia Daily Mail to retract the story.
Mulusa said the party’s MPs are not so irresponsible as to defeat the aims of democracy and disappoint the people to whom they campaigned and convinced to send them to parliament on the MMD ticket by resigning from the party to join the PF.
He claimed that there was something peculiar about the MPs who have so far resigned from the MMD to join the PF saying most of them were facing criminal charges in the courts of law and that their crossing to the ruling party was a desperate effort to have their criminal cases dropped.
Mulusa said the resignation of such MPs was therefore an assault and a mockery on the country’s justice system.
He further stated that the excuses that the MMD was dictatorial and that they would not remain in a troubled party does not hold water alleging that there were more dictatorial tendencies and problems in the PF.
Mulusa said MMD MPs will ensure the party survives by making sure that there was order and unquestioned support to a democratically elected party leadership and also to a democratically instituted National Executive Committee (NEC).
He alleged that the appointment of MMD MPs as Deputy Ministers in Government was just a ploy by the PF to destroy democracy in the country.
Mulusa said PF only wants to increase their numbers in parliament and that was why they were appointing opposition MMD MPs in Government, saying there were many qualified and competitive PF MPs in parliament who should serve in Government as ministers.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mulusa said the party membership and the nation at large are tired of the recent squabbles that have rocked the party.
Asked to state whether the party was also going to expel party Vice President Brian Chituwo for seeming to support expelled National Secretary Richard Kachingwe, Mr. Mulusa said the party would deal with that issue internally.
And the Solwezi Parliamentarian has dismissed claims that camps have emerged in the former ruling party, saying there were absolutely no divisions in the party.
And Sinda MP Levy Ngoma stated that should the leadership of the party decide to bring back expelled Secretary General Richard Kachingwe, the MPs would halt their contribution to the party.
Ngoma said the MPs cannot continue funding a Secretary General who was inimical to the interest and principles of the party.
Speaking at the same occasion, MMD Chitambo MP Mushili Malama said the MMD MPs were strongly behind the leadership of the party President Dr. Mumba and also stands by the expulsion of Major Kachingwe as National Secretary of the party.
Malama said the expulsion of Maj. Kachingwe was sanctioned by MPs who petitioned his expulsion following his utterances which clearly showed that he was no longer serving the interests of the party.
Five MMD MPs who claimed to represent the 30 members alleged to be planning to defect to the PF attended the briefing and these included Mr. Mulusa, Mr. Ngoma, Mr. Malama, Christopher Malila of Lukulu East and Anne Chungu of Lufwanyama constituency.
The post MMD Blasts False Report in State Owned Media appeared first on Zambia Reports.