We must win big, PF intends to manipulate August polls – HH

UPND president Hakainde Hichilema says the party is aware of the PF’s desire to manipulate the August elections hence they need to “win big”.

And Hichilema says there is need to have a Parliament that does not create laws that are confusing like the issue of the third term.

Speaking when he featured on Munati Television, Tuesday, Hichilema said one of the ways the party would ensure the protection of their votes was by winning the election by a huge margin.

“We as UPND understand what is obtaining out there and we are also aware of the intentions of the PF, this autocratic government, to manipulate this election, to deny citizens their rights to choose leadership. So, we are alive to those issues. So one is to make sure that part of the vote protection is to win and to win big. So that the margins are not small. We know what happens when the margins are narrow, we know the behaviour of many Africa leaders. The margins must be driven by a higher turnout, whatever the circumstances. A higher turnout is good for us. As UPND we believe that we will have a higher share of everybody who walks to the polling station on the day,” Hichilema said.

“We are cautious of what happened in 2016, when we believed we won the elections in 2016. This colleague sitting in State House above the winning threshold of 50 percent plus one, he is in State House on account of 13,022 votes. That number came after four, five days of manipulation. So, we are cautious of that, we are putting measures in place that will ensure that does not happen. The only risk to that is the violence.”

Hichilema further said elections should be determined by voters and not those who count the votes.

“This year’s elections are very important elections. Probably the most important in our recent history so to say, because we are in a difficult situation as a country. The state of poverty is unprecedented, the breakdown in the rule of law has never been seen before. The disrespect of human rights, liberties and freedoms are just something I never imagined myself post 1991, that we will have a government like this one that will totally disregard people’s rights and freedoms. I thought 1991 was a defining year for us as a people of Zambia in terms of the reintroduction of multi-partism, but I was wrong,” he said.

“Because of this situation, this election is important because the people of Zambia want to deliver a change of government so that they can improve their lot, it is very clear. For us, we expect a change of government and I think change is written on the walls, in the trees, everywhere. The question is will we have a free and fair election? We don’t want a situation where the elections will be determined by those who count the votes, we want the elections to be determined by those who vote, the people of Zambia. Despite the issues that surround the voter registration, which we were concerned about.”

And Hichilema said the party believed that they would win the election because citizens wanted change.

“I think this is a challenge which the international community needs to be aware of, you cannot have an election where the ground is not level, as it is at the moment. The public order act has been abused over years even before COVID-19 came. Now, COVID is weaponised against the opposition. The ruling party has no respect for the COVID-19 guidelines. We support measures that are meant to curb this pandemic, but there must not be reasons we cannot campaign to voters,” he said.

“It has become even more expensive to place adverts in certain media. Even when we pay money our adverts are not played. We believe that we will win this election because people have decided that it is time for change. Opinion polls are very clear that people want change. No matter what these guys do, there will be change in this country. We don’t want a violent country, we don’t want rivers of blood, we want a peaceful country.”

The opposition party leader added that UPND was seeking public office to resuscitate the economy which had been destroyed by the PF government.

“We are seeking public office, really number one is to resuscitate the economy, to reconstruct this country’s economy. In our view, you cannot reconstruct the social fabric, which is damaged without the resources, without the opportunities. Those resources and opportunities will come from the resuscitation of the economy that has been destroyed. We have an unprecedented debt level. This is unacceptable, this is a very small economy. Our major priority is to get the economy going. We are focusing on ensuring that we bring back an environment that will bring back growth. As we are discussing at dinner times, millions of families will go to bed without decent food tonight,” Hichilema said.

“We want to deal with that. We cannot help the poor, the vulnerable without resource growth, without jobs. For us in the UPND this is a fundamental pillar, on which we stand. So, economic resuscitation is very important. We believe we will be able to do it, we have the credibility, we have the skill of people, we are working in and outside the party, in and outside the country. We are very confident and this is our strength, this is why we are seeking public office. There are many things we can say there, cutting wastage, there is so much extravagance. Why should government Ministers drive VXs? The most expensive vehicles, which in my days were driven by business people. Today are being driven by Ministers, why? When there is no oxygen in hospitals.”

Hichilema said there was need to have a Parliament that did not create laws that were confusing like the issue of the third term.

“We want to focus on the restoration of the rule of law. There is a breakdown in the rule of law. You cannot resuscitate an economy where there is no rule of law, where there is a total disorder. Today you go to a bus stop, just to ride on a bus from one town to another, if you are identified as a member of the opposition you get lynched, you will get your leg broken, if you are unlucky, you will get killed by militias, ruling party militias, who are roaming the street and the police can’t touch them because they are above the law. So, we want to restore order,” he said.

“We want a judiciary that functions for the people. We want Parliament that creates laws that don’t create confusion like what we have now. On this third term issue, there should have never been a misunderstanding of why somebody should not serve more than 10 years. It is the people of Zambia who decided that they don’t want anyone to be in that State House for more than 10 years, because they had 27 years of Kaunda, and they know the damage that comes with it. They know the autocratic behaviour that comes with it, they know the destruction of democracy that comes with it. Today the leading breaker of the rule of law is the government and their militias and we will deal with that.”

Meanwhile, Hichilema said if elected, the party would fight corruption which had put a strain on the country’s resources.

“We want to promote inclusiveness in our country, there is so much divisiveness in our country today; on an ethnic basis, political basis, it is just unacceptable. We want to return the country to this table of unity, where we will focus on inclusion and not exclusion. We will focus on opportunities for all our people and not marginalisation. The next agenda is to fight corruption, this corruption is a big thief on our resources. It takes away money from children who are in school. It has now enriched a group of people who have never run a business before. We want to have zero tolerance for corruption,” said Hichilema.

This article originally appeared on News Diggers