BORN Short Living Tall (BSLT) Executive Director Ntalasha Chisha has condemned UPND members of parliament for boycotting President Edgar Lungu’s state of the nation address in parliament yesterday.
Chisha says the behavior must be strongly condemned by all well-meaning Zambians as it is not a good sign for the country’s young democracy.
“Let us not import bad political tendencies that will leave a damaging impact on our democracy. This is being said in good spirit knowing that political offices are not permanent and each of us have an equal chance to lead someday. The questions we should ask then is are we sowing good seeds or bad seeds? Chisha asks.
She says the role of MPs is to serve and represent the needs of people who put them in power, to advocate, protect and promote the interests of people who put them in power as well as scrutinize legislation and debate various national issues and attend to issues of business in the house.
And Chisha says by failing to represent the people who voted for them, means that they are failing the nation too.
“The UPND MPs are setting a very dangerous political precedence; their negative actions have a damaging impact on the future,” she says.
She has therefore urged both government and the opposition political parties to sort out their differences.
“It is time we started practicing a different kind of politics, For the sake of this nation. We are saying this because such actions bleed confusion, hatred and tribalism. Such actions spur a physiological boost on those against the unity of this nation. Our MPs should be in the forefront of promoting peace among all Zambians in the spirit of One Zambia One Nation. Zambia is for all of us and is a Christian nation. We therefore urge the church to find ways of bridging these burnt political gaps,” Chisha adds.
“Furthermore, the role of the opposition is to work with the government of the day by supporting it for all the developmental projects it is undertaking and offer amicable solutions to the many pressing problems such as poverty overwhelming the majority Zambians. The opposition parties can make meaningful contributions through Parliamentary debates in the formulation of policies for the country. This is important because at the end of the day, these formulated policies should impact positively in the lives of many people regardless of political affiliation.”
Chisha has further urged the Opposition parties as part of the governance system of the country to play their role accordingly in the quest to foster peace, unity and development by providing checks and balances.
“They should not perceive those in the ruling party as enemies by attacking them all the time. Old politics have ways of creating enmity, the new politics we need to practice as a nation should not tolerate such divisions,” says Chisha.
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