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Zambia's main opposition party defends boycott to parliament opening

Xinhua, October 4, 2016 Adjust font size:

Zambia's main opposition party defended on Monday a decision by its lawmakers to stay away from the parliament opening later last week.

All the 58 members of Parliament (MPs) of the United Party for National Development (UPND) boycotted the official opening of the first session of the 12th National Assembly.

The assembly was only attended by 88 lawmakers from the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), one from the opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and 14 independent lawmakers.

The session was officially opened by President Edgar Lungu, and various stakeholders condemned the opposition party's decision to boycott the opening.

Charles Kakoma, the party's spokesperson, refuted the criticism, saying the party does not recognize Lungu as duly elected.

The UPND has refused to recognize that Lungu was duly elected in the Aug. 11 election. However, its efforts to overturn the result in the Constitutional Court have failed. The party has since taken the matter to the Supreme Court.

Lungu succeeded Michael Sata as head of the ruling PF in 2014 after the latter died. He won the presidency the following year in a by-election, defeating opposition candidate Hichilema. Endi