Zambia ruling party postpones launch of campaigns

Zambia's ruling party on Friday announced the postponement of a rally it was supposed to hold to officially launch its campaigns in preparation for this year's general election.

On Wednesday, Davies Chama, secretary general of the Patriotic Front (PF) said the ruling party will hold a mega rally on May 14 to officially kick-start campaigns for the August general election.

The party was also scheduled to launch its manifesto.

But Frank Bwalya, the party's deputy spokesperson said the rally has been postponed and will now be held at a later stage.

"Following the confirmation that parliament will be dissolved on May 11, 2016, we wish to inform our members and the general public that the mega rally to launch our campaign for the 2016 general election will not take place on May 14, 2016 at Heroes Stadium in Lusaka as earlier communicated," he said in a statement.

He said the party will in due course announce the date and other details of the planned rally.

The ruling party has however urged its members to continue implementing programs and strategies to grow the party ahead of the general election.

Zambian President Edgar Lungu will dissolve parliament on May 11, a move that will herald the start of campaigns for the general election. The current parliament was elected in 2011 for a five-year term. Endit