By PERPETUAL SICHIKWENKWE in Petauke –

. PARLIAMENT

PRESIDENT Edgar Lungu will dissolve Parliament in May this year in readiness for the general elections three months later, and Members of Parliament (MPs) should be allowed to work until that time.
The President has also called for discipline among Patriotic Front (PF) members and condemned violence.
The Head of State said the ruling party would only win re-election if members exhibited good conduct and discipline, as the electorate were not interested in violence.
Mr Lungu received reports of members who were refusing to listen to advice from their superiors not to engage in violence, which conduct had the potential to make people shun the party.
He said this in Petauke, Eastern Province when he addressed party members at Petauke Secondary School.
Mr Lungu was in the province to inspect various development projects and assess the effect of prolonged dry spells affecting crops.
Mr Lungu, who was accompanied by several ministers, State House and PF officials, including deputy secretary general Mumbi Phiri and PF deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya said those eyeing leadership positions should take it easy because leadership could not be bought with money.
He said that discipline and good conduct were key for any political party to win elections because it influenced people to join a party in good standing.
Mr Lungu also appealed to the party leadership to respect their followers and do the right thing and that they could not buy respect, but it was through their conduct that they would be put in power.
The President said the PF was geared to take development closer to the people and this could only be done through hard work, discipline and sacrifice by its members.
“I have heard that some people don’t want to heed advice from their leaders when they tell them to stop violence. Desist from violence, people want to live in peace. Zambians don’t want violence, that is their nature,” Mr Lungu said.
Mr Lungu urged the party supporters to show discipline failure to which they would be ejected out of the party because Zambians detested violence.
“If you insist on violence you get out. People detest violence, and I can’t work with you because you are a liability,” he said.
Mr Lungu also said that serving MPs would only be adopted through their good conduct and hard work.
President Lungu said he had been keenly following the conduct of PF leaders and how they  had been working in their constituencies.
Meanwhile, President Lungu has urged pupils at Nyampande Boarding School to work hard because the Government is doing its best to create a better Zambia for them.
Mr Lungu said when he visited the newly-constructed school that education could open better doors for the pupils, including those of becoming president, doctor and lawyer.