{"id":58352,"date":"2024-02-20T22:48:08","date_gmt":"2024-02-20T22:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?p=58352"},"modified":"2024-02-20T06:20:21","modified_gmt":"2024-02-20T06:20:21","slug":"ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question","title":{"rendered":"ECL Clears air on 2026 re-election bid question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>The sixth President of Zambia has clarified for the umpteenth time that a re-election bid in 2026 is not his priority adding that, what is important for him presently is to save and preserve democracy in the country.<\/p>\n

Mr Edgar Lungu said the emergency of the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) is more important to him right now than his perceived personal political ambitions, a statement he reaffirmed for the umpteenth time since the question popped up in public.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger picture for me is UKA,\u201d President Lungu said in the 47-minute interview, \u201cUKA has many parties and about ten candidates so there are many people to choose from and unite behind in UKA \u0301ngatwaumana akapi \u0301 (if we put our hands and heads together in unity).<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

When pressed to categorically state whether he would run given a half a chance, the sixth President Lungu said in bemba, \u201c for me I have always said if the good people of Zambia want me to come back, I may consider coming back.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cif they (UKA) say we float another candidate, so be it I have no problem with that we have lots of talent in UKA, the bigger picture is UKA because we need to remove this (UPND) government.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Lungu said, \u201cwhoever becomes President of Zambia in 2026, because the current government is going nowhere, will have a tough job ahead to bring this country back together.<\/p>\n

\u201d<\/p>\n

President Lungu also added that if, hypothetically he returned to the polls and eventually government in 2026, he would revisit the \u0301free education policy \u0301 and make it better.<\/p>\n

\u0301<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been no free education in Zambia under UPND, there has been a dilution of education theres no quality education now and there can\u2019t be quality education if one teacher has to take on 300 pupils, examine 300 pupils and expect good results,\u201d said President Lungu.<\/p>\n

The sixth President \u0301never \u0301 said he would scrap free education in the 47-minute interview as reported in sections of the local press. Mr Lungu added that if he was to return to power, he would also revive the ailing health and agriculture sector and make them viable again.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Zambia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Zambia. The sixth President of Zambia has clarified for the umpteenth time that a re-election bid in 2026 is not his priority adding that, what is important for him presently is to save and preserve democracy in the country. Mr Edgar Lungu said the emergency of the United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) is more […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":58351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,25,10,248],"tags":[234,235,233],"class_list":["post-58352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-featured","category-parties","category-to-homepage","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-zambia","tag-zambia"],"yoast_head":"\nECL Clears air on 2026 re-election bid question - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The sixth President of Zambia has clarified for the umpteenth time that a re-election bid in 2026 is not his priority ad ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"ECL Clears air on 2026 re-election bid question\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The sixth President of Zambia has clarified for the umpteenth time that a re-election bid in 2026 is not his priority ad ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-02-20T22:48:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/02\/sm_1708397324.377005.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"540\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"ECL Clears air on 2026 re-election bid question\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-02-20T22:48:08+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\"},\"wordCount\":374,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2024\/02\/sm_1708397324.377005.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Zambia\",\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"Featured\",\"parties\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/ecl-clears-air-on-2026-re-election-bid-question\",\"name\":\"ECL Clears air on 2026 re-election bid question - 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