LUSAKA, Sept. 6 (Xinhua) -- Zambian President Edgar Lungu on Tuesday said he will not succumb to pressure from civil society to revoke the order that gave police extra powers to curb lawlessness in the country.
On July 5, the Zambian leader declared a Threatened State of Public Emergency which gave police extra powers to control the tension escalated in the country following the arrest of leading opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema who was charged with treason.
The declaration was approved by the parliament to run for three months.
However, 28 civil society organizations resolved to petition the parliament to revoke the decree on Friday, saying the existed tension, led to unfortunate events such as setting on fire of some markets, had been brought under control following the release of the opposition leader from detention.
But presidential spokesperson Amos Chanda said the Zambian leader will only revoke the declaration at the correct time and will not succumb to pressure from the civil society.
He said in a statement that civil society organizations should not trivialize issues of national security and accused some organizations of collecting money from foreign donors to champion selfish interests.
The presidential spokesperson said citizens have not complained about the declaration, which he said had worked well to curb acts of arson and other retrogressive vices.
While the majority of the people are in support of the declaration, Chanda wondered whom the civil society organizations stand for.
