DEMOCRATIC Party leader Harry Kalaba says former finance minister Felix Mutati and Lusaka lawyer Kelvin Bwalya Fube and himself are planning to form an alliance ahead of next year’s general elections.

Yesterday, a picture of the trio went viral on social media where they were seen holding a meeting.

And when asked if the trio were forming an alliance for the 2021 general elections, Kalaba responded in the affirmative.

“That is true, we are planning to work together. We have been talking as far back as last year and we have been comparing notes. But since you know about the picture, we are thinking of working together next year,” Kalaba told News Diggers.

Speaking when he featured on Muvi TV The Assignment programme, Sunday, Kalaba had said that he would not enter into an alliance where he would be treated like a “flower girl” escorting the bride and groom to enjoyment.

“We have got no qualms with any alliance, there is nothing wrong with being in an alliance. What we are refusing, as Democratic Party, is to be in an alliance where the DP will be like, you know, at a wedding, tukabe kwati nifwebo ba flower girl nangu nifwe ba page boy abaku shindika bashibwinga baya mukulila elo ifwe tube ba knife girl. What we want, as DP, is a relationship that is mutual, is a relationship that will respect both sides,” Kalaba had said.

When reminded about his statement and asked whether he was also not looking for partners in KBF and Mutati to escort him into power, Kalaba said the three had no superiority predispositions.

“We said ‘we are not going to escort another party to power’ because you people think an alliance is just an alliance when you go into an alliance with a certain political party which thinks it should form government. We are not going to play those politics as DP. We are going to go into politics where there is mutual relationship,” he said.

“When we discussed with KBF and Mutati, it was mutual. There are no predispositions. There is no one who is presuming that ‘me it is this, me it is that.’ It is the people that should talk. But when you go into a meeting and you say ‘it is me’, no. So the DP, we have said we will not be part of alliances that are cosmetic. We will be part of alliances that are people oriented. It is not that we don’t want alliances, I said ‘alliances are welcome’ but where you want to make others in the alliance to be a knife girl and page boy balemishanina (they should be dancing for you), they are escorting you and when you win, they begin settling scores, that is not why we are going into government. We are not going into government to settle scores, no. We want to form government because Zambians needs development.”

And in a separate interview, Fube said the trio were having “consultations”.

When asked what was the nature of consultations, KBF said “political strategies are never discussed like that”.

Kalaba is a former minister of Foreign Affairs and former Bahati member of parliament who resigned in January 2018 citing greed and corruption in the corridors of power of the Patriotic Front government.

Mutati is former minister of Finance who was moved to the Ministry of Works and Supply before being fired by President Edgar Lungu in November 2018.