FORMER State House chief policy analyst, Jack Kalala says it is wrong for President Edgar Lungu to assume that development would only come if all councillors and MPs came from one party.

In an interview Kalala said President Lungu does not understand leadership as every person in the country was entitled to development, regardless of any political affiliation.

“President Lungu doesn’t mean well for this country. He only means well for his pockets and his surrogates. So whatever comes out from his month are all lies. President Lungu does not understand what leadership is all about in democracy. So whatever he said and what he has been saying is not true. In a democratic dispensation, politics is practiced during campaigns and during mobilisation and it is only for limited people who want to aspire for offices when they take over government,” Kalala said.

“People should look at the calibre of the people they are electing to form a government. If the councillor is the one who is capable of delivering and that person belongs to a particular party, the people of that area have got a democratic right to vote for that person whether his party forms government or not. They vote for policies and a particular person.”

Kalala said there should be a difference between a party president and a Republican President.

“When a particular party forms government, that government is there for everyone. There is a difference between a leader of a political party and a Republican President. The Republican President is there for the whole country, he is there for people who didn’t vote, he is there for people who didn’t vote for him, he is there for people who voted against him. Immediately he is declared a winner he is republican President. Every citizen has the right to be protected by that government. The President who is elected is there for every citizen,” Kalala said.

He said Zambia was not a one party state which should only be ruled by a single party.

“The resources of Zambia belong to all Zambians. The duty of government is to distribute resources to all citizens. So it is a fallacy therefore for President Lungu to start claiming that for this area to be developed all the councillors and MPs should belong to only one political party. Zambia is not a one party state. It is a multi part state. So the MPs, the councillors that were elected belong to the government not the PF. That is why it’s an offence in a democratic dispensation for a secretary general for a political party to use a government vehicle or government resources,” said Kalala.

“A good example was the Cheembe bridge, the Mwanawasa bridge. That bridge was built in the second term of Mwanawasa. Luapula Province had voted against Mwanawasa but the president said ‘we need to build that bridge for the people of Luapula’. So that is how it should be. So it is totally wrong for the President to be going round the country to be telling people that for you to have development you should only vote for our party no, that is wrong. He should be going to the people to say what he is going to do for them, so that they decide whether to vote for him or not.”