Patriots for Economic Progress leader Sean Tembo says the Patriotic Front is undermining the dialogue process by unilalerally drafting a Constitutional Amendment Bill which will be tabled in parliament during the next sitting.

And Tembo says President Lungu must stop playing silly political games by ensuring that the dialogue process succeeds.

In a statement, Sunday, Tembo stated that constitutional amendment was one of the issues on the agenda, therefore, it was unfortunate that the PF had used their personal opinions to draft an amendment bill without due regard for other participants.

“As Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP), we are greatly concerned by the actions of the PF and its government to undermine the planned dialogue process by unilaterally drafting a Constitutional Amendment Bill which they intend to table before Parliament in the next few weeks, without the considered input of key stakeholders such as political parties, civil society etc. It must be noted that proposed amendments to the current constitution form a key part of the envisaged agenda for the dialogue process, and any planned amendments to the Republican Constitution must be a product of the dialogue process and not the personal opinions of the PF and its government. Therefore, the decision by the PF and its government to unilaterally draft a Constitutional Amendment Bill which they plan to take to Parliament without any input by key stakeholders, is an exhibit in itself, of the level of contempt which the PF and its government have towards the national dialogue process which they claim to be committed to,” Tembo stated.

And Tembo asked President Lungu to stop playing games.

“As Patriots for Economic Progress, we hereby challenge the PF and its government to tell the Zambian people if indeed they are really committed to the dialogue process, so that they stop wasting everyone’s time. If the PF and its government decide that they’re committed to the dialogue process, then they must henceforth stop undertaking actions which have the impact of undermining the dialogue process. The decision by the PF and its government to unilaterally draft a Constitutional Amendment Bill, has far-reaching consequences in undermining the possible success of the national dialogue process,” stated Tembo.

“As Patriots for Economic Progress, we hereby wish to warn and caution the PF and its government that should the national dialogue process fail and should the country go to the 2021 polls without the necessary constitutional reforms, electoral reforms, governance reforms, media reforms and other necessary reforms, we risk having a full scale national conflict in 2021. We further wish to take this opportunity to advise the Republican President Mr Edgar Chagwa Lungu that this is a time to provide leadership and ensure that the national dialogue process succeeds, instead of playing silly political games. It must be noted that our future national security is dependent upon the success of the national dialogue process and the PF and its government must refrain from undermining this national dialogue process, and by extension, our future national security.”