Newly appointed Commerce Minister Dipak Patel and three other deputy ministers from the opposition have been expelled from their parties for accepting ministerial posts in defiance of the party line, officials said on Monday.
Patel, along with commerce deputy minister Geoffrey Samukonga and agriculture deputy minister Chance Kabaghe from the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), were expelled by the party executive committee on Sunday night.
”The party executive resolved to dismiss all the MPs (members of parliament) who accepted ministerial appointments contrary to our party position,” said Elizaberth Chitika, a party representative.
Another opposition party, the United Party for National Development (UPND) have also sacked one of their MP, Kennedy Shepande, who was appointed deputy minister for works and supply.
”We have expelled Mr Shepande from the party for going against the decision of the party,” said UPND representative Patrick Chisanga.
The expelled MPs will technically lose both their parliamentary and ministerial positions. Under the Zambian law, once an MP is sacked from his party, his seat is declared vacant and by-elections are called to fill the vacancy.
President Levy Mwanawasa last month appointed eight opposition members of parliament to both cabinet and junior ministerial positions in his quest to ”unite the country”.
But the opposition parties rejected the move, saying they could not join Mwanawasa’s government when they are challenging his election in court, claiming that he won fraudulently. – Sapa-AFP