Zambian government dismisses opposition leader's complaint letter

The Zambian government on Saturday dismissed a complaint letter raised by the country's main opposition leader to the United Nations (UN) and other regional and international bodies over alleged threats on democracy and the breakdown of law and order.

Hakainde Hichilema, leader of the opposition United Party for National Development (UPND), has written a letter to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, seeking intervention over President Edgar Lungu's threats on democracy and the breakdown of law and order in the country ahead of next week's general elections.

The opposition leader said recent acts of violence have put the county in a state of uncertainty and the potential for breakdown of law and order which could degenerate into a civil war, and asked the UN and other bodies to intervene.

But Minister of Foreign Affairs Harry Kalaba said the move was "an act of desperation and hopelessness by the opposition leader in order to attract international attention to himself".

"We have learnt with sadness that the United Party for National Development leader has written an unpatriotic letter to the United Nations and copied it to the African Union, International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and other bodies," he said.

"The gist of this letter is the preposterous claim that democracy and freedoms have been eroded in Zambia by the government of President Edgar Lungu. We suspect that Mr. Hichilema is smelling a clear electoral defeat, a straight 5th personal loss for him that he can't appear to stomach," he added.

According to him, the basis and foundation of the letter hold no truth, and it was an attempt to merely scandalize the credible electoral process.

"We therefore call upon Zambians and the recipients of this desperate letter to dismiss its contents and disregard it as only worth fr its nuisance value," he added.

Source : XINHUA