ABOUT OPPOSITION UNITY: WHAT REALLY IS IT?
By Sean Tembo – PeP President
1. In the 4 years that l have actively participated in Zambia’s political dispensation, the term “opposition unity” is one that l have found to be the most abused, most misunderstood, most meaningless and yet most desired. It is a paradox, so to speak. But what really is opposition unity and is it attainable in our current political dispensation?
2. For starters, my view is that it is difficult to continue talking about opposition unity without first defining what it really is. And therein is the beginning of the problem. There does not appear to be any consensus among political players on a common definition of opposition unity. Each one has their own, and the definition varies from one end of the spectrum to the other. On the extreme left of the spectrum, opposition unity means speaking with one voice on issues of common interest, whereas on the extreme right, it means total submission of all smaller political political parties to the main opposition, for the common purpose of kicking out an incumbent ruling party. In other words, when you look at opposition unity in its extreme form, it is synonymous to an alliance of all opposition political parties.
3. Having shed some light on my understanding of opposition unity, the next question perhaps is; do l believe in it, and if so, then what shade on the spectrum of opposition unity do l believe in? As a matter of fact, l do verily believe in opposition unity in all its shades, depending on the available circumstances. For example, I do believe that when parties are in an alliance, then they have a duty and obligation to work collectively and with a common purpose of kicking out a ruling party. However, when parties are not in an alliance, then opposition unity needs to take the shape and form of speaking with a common voice on issues of common interest.
4. The need for this distinction is exactly my point of departure with other opposition leaders like HH and Kambwili. To them, opposition unity must always mean that smaller parties must submit fully and completely to the agenda that is set by the main opposition, without any questions asked. If a party is disagreeable to the position taken by the main opposition regarding any matter, then they are opposing the opposition and are therefore labeled as a surrogate of the ruling party. Even if such a party that is not available for full and total submission to the main opposition is in fact available to speak with one voice on issues of common interest, they are not interested. It is either their way or the highway. Put simply, they want all smaller opposition parties to act as though they are in an alliance with them. In other words, they want to get the benefits of an alliance without the cost. If anyone calls them to order, they are very quick to disparage such a political leader. They actually believe that they’re shrewd enough to get away with such blackmail.
5. But it is often difficult for a common Zambian to understand these political dynamics. Am fully aware that the majority of Zambians are sick and tired of the current PF regime and they want change, and they look up to the opposition to deliver that change, and they get even more disappointed when they note that the opposition are bickering among themselves instead of being united and presenting a consolidated force to kick out the incumbents. The common question that l often get from most well-meaning Zambians is; why can’t you people work together? By “you people” they actually mean us in the opposition.
6. Well, l can’t speak for other political parties as to why they can’t work with the main opposition UPND, but l will tell you why me and my party, PeP, cannot work with UPND. Of course the reasons are several, but for purposes of this discussion, l will narrow down to just two. Firstly, UPND in general and HH its leader are inherently selfish people. For example, when we were in an alliance with them, they enjoyed our full unconditional support, but were unwilling to sacrifice even a single constituency or ward in return, for our party to field candidates under the alliance umbrella. In other words, they want you to use your resources to escort them to State House, with no benefit accruing to yourselves whatsoever. Even a child at home, after they wash your car, they expect you to buy them appy apple when you go to the shops. Nothing is for free in this world. Like the saying goes; give and take is a fair game. You cannot just take, take, take, take and take some more without giving back anything. If you just get from someone without ever giving, that amounts to abusing the person, and an abused person is unlikely to stick around for long. In my view, that is the primary reason why HH has had problems building sustainable relationships with other political stakeholders. He is in the habit of using people. He wants no one else to benefit even a little, but himself.
7. The second reason why we cannot work together with UPND again is that they do not have any vision for this country. In fact, if UPND had a viable plan to turnaround this country for the better, l would not, in the first place, have found it necessary to form the Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) way back in 2016. I mean, why duplicate the effort? I would’ve simply joined UPND and worked my way through the ranks. But l long critically scrutinized what UPND had to offer, and l long realized that there is nothing there. HH is only able to condemn without offering any alternative solutions. The few times that he has made an attempt to offer alternative solutions, it was an absolute disaster! Am sure that most people remember his 10 point plan for turning around Zambia’s economy, which he produced in the run up to the 2016 general elections. It was a total sham and he had to quickly withdraw it. The same applies to the two-page Alternative National Budget that he produced last year and which one of his MPs tried to table in Parliament, it was again a shallow and hollow piece of document, especially when compared to the 62-page PeP Alternative National Budget. Again, he quickly withdrew this document in shame. After last year’s embarrassment, HH decided to just stay away from making any attempt to produce an Alternative National Budget this year. No vision for Zambia, no plan for Zambia and yet you want power? To do what with it? If you say you want to be made President so that you can recover some of the money that you have spent funding your party in the past 14 years, then we can understand. But if you tell us that you want power in order to improve the lives of the Zambian people, then we cannot agree with you because you have so far shown no evidence that you have the capacity and a plan to turnaround Zambia. You see, vision taimenafye anyhow kwati ubobwa. It’s either you have it or you don’t, and HH, just like Lungu, does not have any vision for this country. The only difference is that Lungu was honest about it.
8. But people will ask to say; how can such a brilliant businessman have no vision to turnaround Zambia’s fortunes? Why can’t a businessman who has built a fortune for himself be equipped to build a fortune for this country? How come a brilliant businessman is failing to produce a sound Alternative National Budget and ends up with a two-page shallow document which his MPs even have the audacity to present to Parliament? Well, what if he is not and has never been a brilliant businessman? What if the allegations that he made his fortune by swindling the Zambian people during privatization are true? Then of course it would explain a lot of things. Whatever the case, the bottom line from our standpoint is that HH and his UPND have nothing to offer to the Zambian people. Any citizen who is hoping for redemption for this country better look elsewhere.
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SET 09.11.2020