KANCHIBIYA PF member of parliament Martin Malama says the ruling party will bounce back to power in 2021 general election because Zambians trust them.

And Malama says opposition candidates campaigning in Kanchibiya constituency have no chance of winning due to the various developmental projects undertaken under the PF, which had benefited local residents.

In an interview, Malama argued that the PF would be re-elected because it had demonstrated that it could be trusted by Zambians under President Edgar Lungu’s tenure.

“If you go back and where we are today, you will certainly see that the PF government has had a big impact on infrastructure development, and we need the roads for development. We, in the PF, continue to see to it that we unite Zambia and Zambia is peaceful; you will not hear of us talking about ‘Armageddon.’ We know that within us, there may be one or two elements that maybe you see commitment from government to ensure that there is no discrimination when it comes to enforcement of the law. Whoever is found wanting has to face the consequences and the Head of State has been very clear about that,” Malama said.

“We are competing with parties that do not see things the way we see them. For us, we want to see more women in positions of responsibility; in the failed Bill 10, you will see that we wanted more representation. Also, young people know that the PF has the interest of the young people and this is why we pushed for them to be represented in Parliament, but our colleagues thought otherwise. And, therefore, when you ask me about PF bouncing back to power, yes, the PF continues to demonstrate that it can be trusted by most Zambians, if not, all Zambians. We have many challenges and we need a serious party in government to ensure that we have those issues sorted out.”

And when further asked about aspiring opposition candidates that had been going to campaign in his constituency ahead of next year’s general election, Malama said their efforts would fail due to the huge developmental projects that had been undertaken.

“I think that is insignificant in the fact that the outstanding work is the one that takes our attention. People that may be going (to campaign) is an insignificant factor. We are looking at the bigger picture ourselves,” he replied.

He added that government had continued to “steer the engine” of the economy despite the challenging year Zambians had endured.

“Zambia has gone through a lot of challenges: the demise of late president Michael Chilufya Sata; then we had an unscheduled presidential election, going from there, we went from floods and droughts in certain areas. You heard about the issue of COVID, which is very prevalent even now; prior to that, there was the issue of gassing and issue of load shedding. Zambians have had a big share of misfortunes that have come. However, given that the government has continued to steer the engine of the economy and we have weathered it off, it is not just Zambia, but global,” he said.

“Despite this, you have seen infrastructure development and investment to see to it that the economy is controlled by the locals. And given this, you will be able to see that the PF government continues to be pro-poor to ensure that our people benefit. The situation would have been worse when you look at certain countries that are faced with similar challenges, the situation is worse. But what we are seeing on our part is that given similar conditions we are weathering, but continuing with a focus to ensure that employment is provided for our people; that our children are in school that the economy is on the rails.”

Meanwhile, Malama reiterated his firm commitment to continue serving as area member of parliament to complete all outstanding developmental projects in Kanchibiya constituency.

“What I can say is that, basically, we have a lot of work to do, we are public servants and the will of the people is extremely important. But the heart and commitments to ensure that we continue with the development of Kanchibiya is there. We continue to look at the outstanding works; the works that we have done; the uncompleted works and the works to be done. So, the commitment for us to continue working with the people of Kanchibiya and, indeed, the people of Zambia continues to be there more because we are men and women at work,” said Malama.