UPND Says Critics Of Hichilema’s Parliament Speech Have Misplaced Priorities The ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) said those who expected President Hakainde Hichilema to address the election outcome at the official opening of the 14th National Assembly have…

UPND Says Critics Of Hichilema’s Parliament Speech Have Misplaced Priorities

The ruling United Party for National Development (UPND) said those who expected President Hakainde Hichilema to address the election outcome at the official opening of the 14th National Assembly have misplaced priorities. The party said the speech rightly concentrated on the country’s development agenda.

UPND National Management Committee member Mr Elvis Nkandu said in an interview that the President’s address was insightful and set the tone for the country’s priorities in the coming years. He said there was no provision requiring the Head of State to discuss the election outcome and its aftermath when opening Parliament.

Mr Nkandu added that some people would still have criticised the President even if he had addressed the matter. He said the focus should remain on national priorities and the development agenda for the years ahead.

The President opened the First Session of the new Parliament on Friday, 9 October. His address was built around his second-term programme, but he did refer to the polls. He called the elections “peaceful, free and fair” and acknowledged that they had faced “some challenges”.

“The election period is now behind us,” Mr Hichilema told lawmakers, before urging the nation to “continue to uphold national unity.”

He went further and appealed to citizens across party lines. Whatever their political choices, he said, Zambians “remain one law-abiding people, bound together by Zambia, and a common destiny.”

That brief reference did not satisfy opposition voices. They had wanted the Head of State to deal directly with the disputes that followed the national vote.

Opposition politician Mr Changala Siame called the free and fair claim a mockery. He asked how the polls could be described as peaceful when a life had been lost and irregularities had been reported. He also pointed to the continued detention of two opposition figures, Mr Brian Mundubile and Mr Makebi Zulu.

“Why are Mundubile and Makebi in prison if Zambia had peaceful elections?” Mr Siame asked.

He said the authorities had still not answered questions about allegedly stolen ballots, the suspended announcement of results and the closure of courts during the electoral period.

Governance activist Mr Brebner Changala tied the dispute to the President’s economic ambitions. He said the post-election climate risked undermining the goal of growing the economy, and he warned that development targets alone could not repair the division.

“No amount of economic sloganeering will heal deep political divisions,” Mr Changala said.

He urged the President to engage with concerns raised by international election monitors and the opposition. “We plead with our President to rethink on the evident standoff with the opposition,” he said.

Government figures backed the UPND’s position. Foreign Affairs Minister Mr Mulambo Haimbe said after the address that the elections were peaceful and that some people were trying to discredit the electoral process. He urged citizens to look beyond partisan divides, saying international confidence in Zambia had brought jobs and investment.

State House Chief Communication Specialist Mr Clayson Hamasaka rejected suggestions that the Grow Zambia Agenda was empty rhetoric and described it as a measurable plan.

“President Hakainde Hichilema will not govern the country based on social media commentary,” Mr Hamasaka said.

Mr Nkandu wants the speech judged on the programme it set out, and that programme was broad. The President set a target of 3 million tonnes of copper a year. He said more than 42,000 teachers had been recruited during his first term and more than 2.6 million learners had returned to school.

He pledged to recruit more teachers, build housing for them and fully implement competency-based curricula. He told the House that free education was now law and that examination fees had been removed up to secondary school level.

The Head of State also announced that government institutions would buy only electric vehicles, citing instability in global fuel supply. He said his administration remained resolute in its pursuit of accountability, transparency and zero tolerance to corruption.

“There will be no sacred cows in the fight against corruption,” the President said.

He also defended his first-term record. “Today, progress is visible: the economy has stabilised, order has been restored, confidence is back,” he said.

The UPND says that agenda should now be the country’s focus. The opposition is still demanding answers on the conduct of the polls, and voters in Mandevu are due to return to the polls on 5 November, after voting there was cancelled following violence during the general election.