LET US WORK TOGETHER
…M’membe invites citizens to unite with opposition
By Tony Nkhoma
PEOPLE’S Pact 2026 presidential candidate Dr Fred M’membe has appealed to Zambians to unite with opposition political parties if they want to remove the United Party for National Development (UPND) from power and replace it with a caring government.
And Dr M’membe says opposition parties are preparing to form a government of national unity after the inevitable fall of the UPND in August.
He said in Lusaka yesterday citizens should know that opposition political parties alone could not liberate them from the suffering UPND had inflicted on them if they did not participate in removing it in the August general election.
Only a united opposition would give the Zambian people the hope they had been denied, but the citizens needed to participate in ending the terrible rule of the UPND government.
“We agree that to get the desired result, it’s not leadership of one group or another. The politicians alone cannot pull it. We need the collective wisdom, the collective effort of all our people,” he said.
Dr M’membe said the issue of the Socialist Party (SP) participating in the August general elections as a single party was out because it was already part of the People’s Pact Movement.
“Socialist Party is part of the People’s Pact. So we are already in a movement. So, the issue of solo for the Socialist Party is out. We are working with others. And we are not the initiators of that project of working with others,” he said.
Dr M’membe was speaking when he featured on Power FM podcast.
He said opposition political party leaders in the country should unite.
Opposition leaders and the Zambian people needed to unite to show the country the direction it desired to take ahead of the August general elections.
He said the People’s Pact was initiated by people and not politicians.
Its agenda was not that of the Socialist Party.
“It’s people who brought us together. And they brought in that. So, the Socialist Party is not going to go solo. The agenda that we are going to have is not a Socialist Party agenda but a collective agenda,” Dr M’membe said.
He said the first five years of the next government would be to promote unity in the country.
“Our country is divided. We need to promote maximum unity if we are to tackle the problems our country is facing today. Secondly, to promote that unity, we need a government of national unity,” he said.
Dr M’membe said the new government would be specifically tasked with enhancing the unity of the country and stabilising the economy.
He said the next government would work towards deepening the multi-party-political system.
“Those are not easy tasks. And they go across parties. It doesn’t matter what your ideologies are. If you want to participate in the politics of this country, you need that environment,” he said.
Dr M’membe said there should be unity in the country, not only among the politicians but unity among the people.
“And that’s the traditional leadership, the religious leadership, the business leadership, the trade union leaders, the intellectuals of our country and all other civic leaders of our people,” Dr M’membe said.
