By Bennie Mundando
POLITICAL parties with seats in Parliament must reach a consensus on Bill 10 failure to which it must be withdrawn so that we set our attention on the 2021 elections, opposition Golden Party Zambia (GPZ) president Jackson Silavwe has demanded.
Mr. Silavwe says the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) and opposition political parties with a presence in the National Assembly such as the United Party for National Development (UPND), National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD), the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and independent candidates must all come to a common viewpoint on Bill 10 for it to pass.
He says failure to attain this consensus, Bill 10 must be withdrawn adding that GPZ remains opposed to certain contentious clauses in the Bill as submitted to the parliamentary select committee in September.
“Political parties in Parliament (PF, UPND, NDC, MMD, and FDD) and independents need to generate consensus on Bill 10. If they fail to do so, the bill must be withdrawn from the House and let us proceed to the 2021 Elections under the current laws.
“GPZ remains opposed to specific articles in the bill as submitted by the GPZ leadership to the parliamentary select committee on 19th September, 2020,” Mr. Silavwe said.
