Democratic Party president Harry Kalaba says he will continue with its planned country wide mobilisations and vision launches despite President Edgar Lungu‘s call for political parties to desist from campaigning.

President Lungu, during his press briefing, Friday, said now was not the time for political parties to start campaigning.

Kalaba in an interview said the remarks by the Head of State were hypocritical because the Patriotic Front was already conducting campaign activities around the country.

“That is what we were telling you that President Lungu was directly involved in the cancelation of our vision launch, others were saying that no we were just speculating. For us in the DP we are not in the habit of speculating. President Lungu on the same day that they canceled our permit five hours before the rally, the President’s people where in Western Province busy mobilising and it was on TV. We have seen his Secretary General Davies Mwila has been everywhere organising the party and he has been addressing people everywhere,” Kalaba wondered.

“So you can see that we have a leader in State House who doesn’t know if he is coming or going, we have a leader who is not ready to adhere to democratic values of our country; because he thinks that it is our job as citizens to be clapping for him when he is eating, to be clapping for him when he is doing all sort of unscrupulous things. So, that is not our responsibility we are going to continue our mobilisation, we are going to continue our vision launches as Democratic Party. And it is not President Lungu who can stop us because President Lungu is just one of the contenders if at all he is going to be picked by his party in the 2021 polls. For us it is a democracy and whether we are mobilising or campaigning we are doing that, it should not be his concern. His concern is to bring development it is him who is in government I am not in government. The onus to deliver development is on him it is not on president Kalaba, it is not on president Hakainde Hichilema, it is not on Chishimba Kambwili.”

He added that although President Lungu had already kick started his campaigns, the Zambian people had already rejected him.

“When he starts talking like that he is making a mockery of our democracy and we will not allow him to make a mockery of our democracy. We will not be swayed in his failure to perform and he wants all of us to fail to perform in our various capacities… Those are campaigns that he is doing except that the people have rejected him. That man has been rejected! The President has been rejected totally by Zambians, Nobody wants him!” he said.

“I was talking to a number of civil servants just a while ago; I had a meeting with 45 civil servants and they were telling me that ‘we can’t go on with this man because we have not received other civil amenities in the last six months. The only money that we have received is our salaries. We are reporting for work and are doing nothing at our offices how can we vote for such a man?'”

Kalaba warned that if President Lungu is elected President in 2021, the country will descend into a one party state.

“So even when he was talking there everybody was laughing at him, the people who are telling us that he is failing are the people who he is working with. They are telling us that ‘this man has failed! Because we have told him and he doesn’t listen’. So let’s continue talking, we will teach him a lesson in 2021. there is nothing that he can do ba Lungu nothing! Even if he does project breaking here to hoodwink the people that he is working and that he is bringing development; people know already that this man is tired and that we can’t work with him anymore. So President Lungu is going, no matter what he is trying to do he is going and he will not stand in any ones way,” said Kalaba.

“If President Lungu was going to, by any slightest chance, win the election [in 2021] this country will be a one party state. If president Rupiah Banda was behaving the way he is behaving, Imagine if Mwanawasa was behaving the way he is behaving towards Michael Sata what could have happened? Mwanawasa was busy delivering development that is why in 2006 despite Sata being a revolutionary leader; the people still elected Mwanawasa because they saw through him that he was a genuine leader. Now this one (President Lungu) we can see though him that he is masquerading to be a leader. And we are saying Mr President give us space, we will also give you space.”