Mike Mulongoti says Zambians should not take seriously remarks made by PF Secretary General Davies Mwila that nothing will stop President Edgar Lungu from standing in 2021, saying the PF official was speaking as a cadre without any judicial authority.

And Mulongoti says PF must be very careful with what they intend to do in the country because they have less friends and more enemies who would stand against them in an event that chaos broke out.

Mwila recently said although PF would wait for the courts’s ruling on President Lungu’s eligibility, the ruling party had already made a resolve to field him as a candidate in 2021, a decision that would not be changed.

But Mulongoti who is People’s Party leader, wondered where Mwila was drawing his mandate to speak authoritatively over a matter that was in court.

“Mr Mwila was speaking as a what? A party cadre or a legal mind? Because the interpretation of the law is for the courts and Lungu’s eligibility was taken to the Constitutional Court by Rev Pule and his friends. So for Mr Mwila to say that, it is a mark of arrogance and that the laws of Zambia that exist are irrelevant to them. For us, we take it that he was speaking as a party cadre and not that he is anywhere near a legal mind. So it must be dismissed with the contempt it deserves. Within the party, yes he can be their candidate as president for the party but not for the Republic because within the Republic, there is a Constitution that we must all respect and obey,” Mulongoti said.

“Mr Mwila knows very well that according to the Constitution, one who has been twice elected cannot stand again so I don’t know from which position he was speaking. That’s why I am saying he must restrict himself as a party cadre and talk about the position in his own political party and not in the Republic. If the statement came from the PF chairperson for legal, who is Dr Simbyakula, I would have taken it seriously but where it is coming from, I know that it is being said by a very innocent citizen whose appreciate of the law is limited, so to be fair to him, I would like to think that the authority he is using is not the law.”

And Mulongoti says PF has more enemies than friends.

“Do they have support anymore in the country? You create chaos if the majority of the people are with you. They have more enemies now than friends so it’ll be very risky to take that position of chaos. They have run out of tricks now. The question of Mr Lungu contesting, there are two things, one, if there is an order from the court for a rerun, he can participate but not a normal election. If there is an order of the court for a rerun following the petition, yes he can run because he will not have been formally elected as per law,” said Mulongoti

“And President Lungu committed treason. One, he did not hand over power to the Speaker when the petition was taken to court, two, he allowed ministers to remain in office when they should have vacated and three, he was even threatening the judges when he was in Solwezi. So how does he qualify? All things being equal, even last time he should not have been allowed to stand when he abrogated the Constitution when he allowed ministers to remain in office. In a mature democracy, he would not have been allowed to go anywhere near the ballot paper after that.”