A NON-Governmental Organisation (NGO) has said that members of Parliament (MPs) should not abuse their parliamentary privileges by resorting to unnecessary impeachment motion against the Republican president.

Citizens' Committee executive director, Gregory Chifire said in Lusaka yesterday that calls by the Patriotic Front (PF)/United Party for National Development (UPND) pact to start impeachment proceedings against President Rupiah Banda were uncalled for.

"It is absurd and a waste of both parliamentary time and resources for members of Parliament to start talking about impeaching the president when he has done nothing wrong.

"Parliamentarians should realise that the august House is not designed to be a theatre of jokes, but a place where serious legislation issues that govern this country should be conducted," Mr Chifire said in a statement

He said his organisation felt that MPs were abusing their parliamentary privileges but noted that it was sad that the Constitution in its current form did not have a provision for punishing such lawmakers.

And a veteran politician Dennis Katilungu has condemned the PF-UPND pact's proposed impeachment of President Banda, describing the whole motive as hypocritical.

In an interview in Kitwe yesterday, Mr Katilungu who is life associate member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) said it was hypocritical for the leaders of the pact to advocate the impeachment of the president whom he said had not violated the Constitution.

Mr Katilungu said impeaching a president was a serious undertaking and advised Zambians to ignore the proposals being agitated by the opposition because they lacked basis.

He called on PF leader Michael Sata and his UPND counterpart Hakainde Hichilema to avoid what he called unnecessary and dubious allegations against President Banda.

Mr Katilungu said what Mr Sata and Mr Hichilema were doing was hypocrisy of the highest order, as the two leaders were not being sincere to the nation.

- MMD Lusaka Province youth chairperson Chris Chalwe has said that the impeachment calls are baseless and that it will not work.

Mr Chalwe said in a statement in Lusaka yesterday that the two parties should wait for 2011 elections.

He said that the UPND and the PF should concentrate on building their pact instead of fanning confusion.