UPND National Chairperson, Mutale Nalumango, has stated that all Opposition Alliance members are equal partners and none of the political parties dictates over the other.
Speaking this morning, during a live phone-in program on Radio Phoenix, Nalumango said the Opposition Alliance was intact and was not shaken by the recent resignation and withdrawal from the alliance by PEP President, Sean Tembo.
“The Opposition Alliance was anchored on the issues of constitutionalism, the PFs failure to adhere to the rules of good governance and their quest to shrink the political playing field. It’s for this reason that all the members of the opposition alliance decided to come together to fight these injustices,” said Nalumango.
She further stated that there was nothing wrong with PEP President Sean Tembo pulling out of the alliance.
The National Chairperson for UPND said it was within his constitutional right to choose who he associates and works with politically.
“I did not hear the full reason why PEP pulled out. From what I gathered, only general reasons were cited. Its within their democratic space to resign and withdraw from the opposition alliance. That’s the beauty of democracy”, she said.
As regards to the rift that emerged between UPND and NDC over the contesting of Lubwa Ward in the Copperbelt, Nalumango said there is no existing electoral pact in the Opposition Alliance. She added that because there is no standing electoral pact any of their members is free to contest any election anywhere.
“We never sat and discussed who would contest the Lubwa ward. There is no time the UPND and NDC sat to discuss this matter and any assertions that say we discussed this matter are not true”, said Nalumango.
Nalumango said it was important that if members of the alliance were aggrieved with a specific action by another member they needed to approach the member and deal with the matter amicably.
She said that if Chishimba Kambwili was aggrieved, he should have come through.
The UPND National Chairperson said that she believed in the need of inculcating a spirit of openness and sincerity within the alliance.