Dipak Patel: Difference between revisions

In 2002, while a lawmaker, Patel received a police summons for having allegedly insulted [[Levy Mwanawasa]], who was elected president in the [[Zambian presidential election, 2001|2001 election]]; defaming the head of state is a criminal offence under Zambian law and may incur a jail sentence of up to three years. The ''[[Zambia Post]]'' had published a quotation by Patel in which he called Mwanawasa a "cabbage", a reference to Mwanawasa's alleged rigging of the presidential election.<ref>{{citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1816201.stm|periodical=BBC News|date=2002-02-12|title=Zambia newspaper editor arrested|accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> Police also arrested the ''Post'' editor [[Fred M'membe]], but M'membe himself believed Patel was the police's real target.<ref>{{citation|periodical=BBC News|title=Zambia's cabbage case could backfire|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1818857.stm|date=2002-02-14|accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> However, Mwanawasa appointed Patel to the position of Cabinet Minister in the Ministry of Trade, Commerce, and Industry in February 2003, in a surprise move which also saw a number of other opposition lawmakers named to his cabinet.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-13372016.html|title=Zambian president appoints opposition members into cabinet|periodical=Xinhua News|date=2003-02-08|accessdate=2009-08-20}}</ref> During his tenure under Mwanawasa, Patel served as Chair-Co-ordinator for the Least Developed Countries [[World Trade Organization]] negotiations in 2005.<ref name="OECD"/> Patel later changed his opinion of Mwanawasa, and after the latter's death praised him for his independence, stating that "Everyone thought he was going to be [[Chiluba]]’s puppet, but he showed very quickly that he took orders from no one".<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/20/world/africa/20mwanawasa.html|periodical=The New York Times|date=2008-08-20|accessdate=2009-08-20|last=Bearak|first=Barry|title=Levy Mwanawasa, Zambia President, Dies at 59}}</ref>