MMD confident of bouncing back

——The MMD in Southern Province says it is confident of bouncing back to power in the forth-coming 2016 general elections.

The former ruling party has based its assessment on what it terms a successful card renewal and member mobilization exercise launched in Livingstone yesterday.

But the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) says its stay in power is guaranteed by the massive developmental works it is undertaking countrywide.

MMD Southern Province Chairman Oliver Pelete said massive recruitment of members was the only way the party could bounce back to power as the case was in Malawi’s recent general elections where a former ruling party regained power.

“So for those who are thinking that it is not possible, the party that lost power in Malawi bounced back and that has energized us to work even harder,” he said.

Mr Pelete said this in an interview with ZANIS in Livingstone.

He said over 400 people from 17 wards within Livingstone were in attendance at the launch as the party targeted to attract new members and those that had left the party for various reasons.

He said the party had learnt lessons from the squabbles that took place at national level but assured that these had been resolved and focus had been shifted to the recruitment of members.

Mr. Pelete also accused the ruling Patriotic Front of failing to honour part of its campaign promises such as enactment of a new constitution, more jobs for youths, putting more money in people’s pockets and honouring the Barotse Agreement.

But PF Southern Province Political Secretary Leonard Siachona said the PF’s stay in power beyond 2016 was guaranteed by the massive developmental works it was undertaking countrywide.

Mr. Siachona dismissed claims by the MMD that his party had failed to fulfill some of its campaign promises adding that the former ruling party was out of touch with the progress made by PF since forming government.

“We have created more jobs and given the civil servants the biggest salary increment in the country’s history and that is part of putting more money in people’s pockets. Furthermore, we have a functional constitution as rightly stated by President Michael Sata, so claims by the MMD are baseless,” he said.

He reiterated that government was addressing the issue of the Barotse Agreement of 1964 at national level.

Mr. Siachona said PF was in constant touch with its members at grass root level and would only focus on recruitment of new members once it was satisfied people understood and appreciated the developmental works being undertaken countrywide.

“Our program as a party is tailored in a such a manner that we want to point out to people what we have done for them to understand and appreciate before we start recruiting new members,” he said.