PF are sellouts, says People’s Pact
By George Zulu
THE Patriotic Front (PF) party is a sellout which has again betrayed and failed the people of Zambia by voting for the illegal Bill 7, People’s Pact chairperson Peter Sinkamba has said.
And Sinkamba says the Tonse Alliance council of leaders will meet to review the role of the PF after its betrayal of the people of Zambia over Bill 7.
Commenting on the future of the opposition in Zambia ahead of next year’s general election, Sinkamba said Zambians were hurt by the betrayal of PF members of Parliament (MPs)who had voted for Bill 7.
“We are very disappointed with members of Parliament of the PF in the manner they behaved. They are sellouts. Because we were made to believe that as we were approaching the D-Day yesterday [Monday], we were going to work in unison, especially those who were not aligned to Chabinga’s team,” he said.
Sinkamba said the voice of the people of Zambia, through various stakeholders, had been taken away by the PF MPs who voted for the bill.
“We were made to believe that we were going to represent Zambians at large, and especially that we went as far as meeting the Oasis Forum and other stakeholders to assure them that we were going to shut down the bill, and also to assure them that we were going to stand with the people of Zambia at large. And to even sign some documents to confirm that they were going to do just that. But then, when things turned out the way they did yesterday, it became a very big shock to us that our own partners were going to do things like that. They are sellouts,” he said.
And Sinkamba says the council of leaders of the Tonse Alliance will meet this week to review the role of the PF in the coalition.
He said the memorandum of understanding would be reviewed ahead of next year’s elections.
“…going forward, we should be having our council of leaders meeting in the next two days, and on the agenda is a discussion of the memorandum of understanding, which is long overdue. And with this development, where PF members became sellouts, we have to understand what role these people are going to play going forward, especially as we prepare for the election of 2026,” he said.
He said the PF was full of turncoats.
Meanwhile, All People’s Congress (APC) president Nason Msoni says betrayal is painful.
Msoni said the betrayal had left most Zambians bitter.
“Betrayal is painful, but now it is in the hands of the omnipotent God. He always has the last say in the affairs of men. Political deceit has a very limited mileage. The painful part of all this is that the betrayal has come from the men and women with whom we took sweet counsel together. Our own men and women in the opposition ranks,” he said.
Msoni said it was difficult to suggest that Zambians would forgive those MPs who had betrayed them for the love of money.
“It is difficult not to be bitter. Now that Bill 7 has been passed, how do I feel about it? Terrible. It’s painful and betrayal has come from the opposition ranks and it’s very difficult not to be bitter or to feel bitter that the very people that you worked with, the very people you felt were together, go and misconduct themselves in a manner that is or was not expected. I think it’s painful. It’s shameful, so to speak,” he said.
