BILL 7 VOTE HAS EXPOSED WEAK OPPOSITION – FR MAPULANGA
CARITAS Zambia Executive Director
Fr Gabriel Mapulanga says it was disappointing to see how opposition MPs voted for Bill 7.
Fr Mapulanga notes that the opposition is currently fragmented and very weak, adding that it will not be easy for them to compete effectively in the 2026 elections.
Commenting on the National Assembly passing Bill No. 7 with all 135 present UPND, PF and Independent MPs voting in the affirmative, Fr Mapulanga said he did not expect the opposition MPs to vote the way they did.
“First of all, we are disappointed, for some of us who were saying that the process is not correct. We didn’t expect the opposition to vote in the way they voted. It was quite a disappointment. Of course, now it looks as if we have lost, but we have not lost. It looks like we have lost, but in the actual sense, it is not a loss because we have the other side to seriously think about this issue of the constitution, and we still maintain that the process was not correct. I think we have helped the government not to take people for granted next time when they do a similar exercise. We are very confident that they will be more careful than they have been this time. In a nutshell, it is a disappointment but not a loss as such, and I think we were on firm ground and we’ll continue saying what we have been saying and advocating for,” he said.
“[The] constitution-making process is a very delicate issue. It’s the thing that you pay the most attention to and you look at any small details so that the constitution can be accepted by everyone. First of all, that’s our take”.
Fr Mapulanga observed that looking at the current weak state of the opposition, it would not be easy for them to effectively compete in next year’s elections.
“The disappointment comes from the opposition in the way they voted. Of all the expectations the opposition may look at, from our point of view, we thought they may see the sense in what we were saying, but it didn’t work out like that. It shows the opposition is very fragmented. If the opposition can behave like this, you see the future for the opposition as we go on, it may not be easy for them even to compete effectively in the election because they are very fragmented. We also believe that the opposition is very important for any country and a strong opposition is what we want. And we want the opposition to be as strong as it can. As we move forward it may not be very easy for the opposition, but we call upon the people to be aware that every country which calls itself democratic needs a strong opposition,” said Fr Mapulanga.
“We need a strong opposition to challenge the government and anyone knows that, even the government knows that there is a need for a strong opposition and for them (government), of course, they feel good when the opposition is weak, but actually in the actual sense there is a need for a strong opposition. But the way things are, the opposition is very fragmented, very weak, and it will not be very easy for them as we approach the election year”.
News Diggers
Bill 7 was not an election. So the opposition MPs did the right thing to vote with their conscience.
True JMC. Those PF MPs lived up to their title of Honorable. They were not intimidated by the PF faction paper tigers, their allies in those religious hypocrites and the spineless, cheer leading NGOs.