PATRIOTIC Front acting deputy secretary general Brenda Nyirenda has called on government to open dialogue with party president Given Lubinda, to break the deadlock over the delayed burial of former president Edgar Lungu.
Nyirenda said the PF is willing to cooperate if it means bringing closure to what she described as a national embarrassment that has dragged on for too long.
She was speaking when she addressed journalists in Lusaka yesterday.
Nyirenda lamented that the continued delay to bury president Lungu had caused emotional distress among party members and the nation at large.
“ [If] Government can engage Lubinda…we are ready to help them handle the Lungu issue. Losing a father figure like President Lungu has been hard for us, and not laying him to rest until now makes it even more painful,” stated Nyirenda.
She however, insisted that the PF under the Lubinda-led faction will not use the ongoing standoff as an excuse to abandon its internal programmes, including the election of a new party leader at the upcoming national convention.
“The unresolved burial has caused us pain, but it won’t stop us from moving forward. We will not use this tragedy as a scapegoat for failing to organise or elect our new president,” she said.
She urged national leaders to handle the Lungu burial issue with compassion and maturity.
“This matter needs empathy, not politics. It’s time to do what’s right and allow the former president to be laid to rest with the dignity he deserves,” she said.
Meanwhile, Nyirenda also shared that the party’s central committee during its sitting on Sunday, November 2, 2025, agreed to kickstart the nomination process for presidential hopefuls, a seven day window that began yesterday.
By Sharon Zulu
Kalemba November 4, 2025
