KAPALA CHISUNKA, Lusaka ACTING President Guy Scott and Patriotic Front (PF) president Edgar Lungu have reconciled and pledged to work together. The reconciliation between Mr Lungu and Dr Scott was mediated by Northmead Assemblies of God Bishop Joshua Banda after a meeting on Friday.
Dr Scott said at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the two leaders came to a conclusion and decided to put a stop to the confusions that rocked the party after the death of President Sata.
“We came to a conclusion and Friday was a high-point that this confusion in PF has been going on for too long. It related mostly to people’s grief and passing of President Sata; it’s like a family having a squabble after the death of a patriarch.
And all that confusion, we decided to come together under the auspices of Dr Banda; some from the so-called Lungu’s faction and some from the Miles Sampa group and we agreed to draw a line across the past. So, nothing that happened in the past has any impact now,” Dr Scott said.
He said the party will now concentrate on moving forward towards the election to be held in the next four weeks.
“We want to retain our governing party position. And meanwhile, you are seeing the people who have not been bereaved; the people who have got no excuse of grief making strides at our expense. We have now buried our differences, we have buried the hatchet,” Dr Scott said. He said that as acting President and co-founder of the PF, he will stick to his pledge that as long as he remains President, the forthcoming presidential election will be free and fair.
“If we win, which we will, we will do it without corruption, without violence and without any of the other sins and there are many sins that are specified in the electoral code of conduct. But we will stick to that code of conduct. It is a promise, and if I find people not sticking to it, I will walk off the podium and resign. We want to see peace and law-abiding behaviour,” Dr Scott said.
Dr Scott condemned violence and intimidation during campaigns, saying that might disadvantage the PF.
“Be law-abiding and not engage in the type of politics we’ve seen before. Just go to people and explain to them if they have any doubts. Don’t bully people because that way, you can see votes running away from you. We are back in business as one PF and we are still in Government and responsible for the running of the country and I expect that after January 20, we’ll still be in Government,” he said.
And Mr Lungu said there was no loser or winner in what has transpired as the party and Zambians are the winners. He said the immediate focus is to tag along as one political party under his leadership and ensure that the party wins the election.
“I am saying so because the healing process is long, there will be backlashes here and there because there are people who were benefiting from the confusion in our party. I am with acting President who remains a member of the PF and the rest of the issues will be sorted as we go on because we are coming from a very difficult time.
But I can assure you that everything is water under the bridge,” Mr Lungu said.
Party officials who were in attendance include Mulenga Sata, Jean Kapata, Emmanuel Chenda, Willie Nsanda, Geoffrey Mwamba, Daniel Munkombwe, Harry Kalaba, Anthony Kasolo and Christopher Yaluma. Others are ABZ president Father Frank Bwalya and father Charles Chilinda.
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