— Nevers dismisses RB move to contest Presidential By Elections

Nevers dismisses RB move to contest Presidential By Elections
Lusaka, November 18^th, 2014, ZANIS – Opposition MMD leader Nevers Mumba says he remains committed to his party’s constitution in the running of the former ruling party.

Dr. Mumba says as long as he remains the party’s president, the rule of law shall remain supreme.

It is for this reason that the opposition leader has advised those who have vowed to bend the provisions the MMD constitution          that they shall not succeed saying such individuals are free to start their own party and fulfil their aspirations.

It is unfortunate that this development has happened when the party desperately needs unity in order to face the by-election. I therefore wish to dispel the rumour that Mr Banda is our candidate. There is no vacuum in the Presidency of MMD, he said.

“ We remain committed to exploring all options meant to further strengthen us including that of respectful alliances with other political parties and we have made great progress in this regard, “  he said.

The opposition leader has for this reason appealed to the party members across the nation to focus on this coming election.

ZANIS reports that   the MMD leader said this in a statement released in Lusaka this evening. He said this on the side-line of Former Republican President Rupiah Banda’s planned contest of the forth coming Presidential By-elections slated for January 20^th, 2015.

He said no one has endorsed Mr Rupiah Banda as the candidate on the MMD ticket adding that the party has one president and that President is himself.

“ I was elected at the last convention with a five year mandate. Our constitution is clear that there is no provision to elect a presidential candidate outside the sitting president, ‘he added.

He explained that though some individuals have cited how the NEC chose presidential candidates, Levy Mwanawasa and Rupiah Banda, but in both these cases there was no sitting president who automatically qualified to contest.

In 2001, President Chilubi was in illegible to stand and in 2008, President Mwanawasa had died, he said.