On how to make the Patriotic Front great again
By Joseph Chirwa
Introduction
The Patriotic Front (PF) has always been a party in denial.
It was in denial that it could lose the 2021 historic vote. It is in denial that it lost the vote. It is in denial that it has no chance of ever forming government again if it does not change. It is in denial that it has to change. It is in denial that it has not changed.
The following is my submission on how the PF can be great again; on how it can avoid death. On how it can revive and survive. I wrote in August, 2021 that like a band of thieves, the PF will disintegrate and this prediction seems more and more probable than ever.
Branding and rebranding process
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, a ‘brand’ is an activity of giving a particular name and image to goods and services so that people will be attracted to them and want to buy them. Rebranding is defined by the same authority as “to change the image of a company or organisation or one of its products or services, for example by changing its name or by advertising it in a different way. As can be seen above, rebranding entails change. Then what is change? Change simply means to become different. There can never be rebranding without change. Change is a prerequisite to rebranding. Change is the raison d’être for rebranding.
Since its defeat in the 2021 elections, it can hardly be said that the PF has changed. The only thing that has changed is that it has lost power and is powerless. It has the same philosophy. It has the same leadership. It has the same modus operandi. It is the same party. The same egoistic and pompous party. We seem unremorseful and without a unity of purpose.
The King Cobra hangover
The PF was based on the philosophy of one person in the name of Michael Chilufya Sata. It is a party formed by one person, hence it has become difficult for his followers to understand the vision behind the movement. Unlike other major parties whose formation was based on a philosophy, the PF was formed as a ‘one-man’ movement. A visionary and populist leader who mastered the art of persuasion. Because of his wit and charisma, he was able to sway peoples’ minds without even explaining substantive issues. He issued sweeping statements without solutions. He wooed his audience by his humour. He cowed his opponents by his ‘chintinya’ (scare). He was an all-round politician. A veteran of the liberation struggle. His death left unfillable void. His ghost still haunts the PF more so that he left a power struggle and a leadership contest that still boils up to today. He thrived on anarchy. He thrived on ‘divide-and-conquer’ tactics. He left no heir apparent. He left a shipwreck for all his successors. The survival of the PF depends on him. A Sata-like figure is perhaps needed to gather disciples used to his style of leadership.
Unity in time of defeat
The survival of an army is unity in purpose. This is what made the PF survive after three defeats: 2001, 2006 and 2008. President Sata commanded unity of purpose and unity of direction at every moment of defeat. The PF was used to winning after the 2011 elections. The party forgot the taste of defeat after swooping to victory in 2011 and 2015. This is unusual for a party that had been a perennial loser. It swept to power after being favoured by the misdeeds of the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD). Instead of learning as to what led to the loss of the MMD, it copied and adopted the same modus operandi. Instead of learning from the failures of the MMD it competed to surpass the MMD. The end result was an unlikely victory of the UPND.
Post August 2021, the party has continued to act and behave as it did prior to its loss. It is reluctant to hold free and fair elections at the national conference to allow all its membership to contest positions from top to bottom. It still intends to impose leadership on its members. Failing to comprehend that it is no longer in power and it is no longer as lucrative as it was, the party is in denial. Those in leadership positions still feel important. They still feel entitled. They still feel privileged but tables have turned. It is time to sober up.
Change of leadership is inevitable
The current leadership of the PF was not elected. It was imposed on the party by the party president. Other than president Edgar Lungu and vice-president Inonge Wina who went ‘unopposed’ all the Members of the Central Committee (MCCs) were imposed. Majority of these were not wanted or liked. They are still not wanted or liked. In short, the party leadership needs surgery. It needs an overhaul and a complete makeover.
It is time to subject all party positions to free and fair elections. Imposing leadership on the general membership may have worked for the UPND in its over 20 years in opposition but may not work with the two-time opposition PF. It may have worked for Michael Sata but may not work for the next party president. Clearly, it did not work for Edgar Chagwa Lungu. The issue of leadership is at the apex of the reasons for the party losing the 2021 elections. We had reached a stage of failing to distinguish mere cadre from MCC. The party became anarchist.
Of presidential candidates
A few members of the PF have expressed interest so far in order to contest the party presidency. This is Honourable Brian Mundubile – MP as a leading contender currently serving as member of parliament (MP) for Mporokoso and leader of the opposition in the National Assembly. He has previously served as chief whip and Northern Province minister. He is also the current chairperson for legal affairs.
Second is Chishimba Kambwili. He was not long-ago president of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). He was clearly forced into the opposition as his love for the PF is undeniable. He was an MCC prior to forming NDC. He served as PF MP for Roan Constituency and as minister in charge of various portfolios including information and broadcasting, labour and social security and foreign affairs, among others. Then there is Emmanuel Mwamba. He is former spokesperson to second republican president Frederick Jacob Titus Chiluba. He served as permanent secretary for Southern Province and information and broadcasting, among others. He also served, until the loss of the PF, as ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union. However, we have other party heavyweights that have not announced their intention but may contest the presidency. From the rank and file of the party, the following names have come up: Hon. Chitalu Chilufya – MP; Hon. Ronald Chitotela – MP; and the current acting vice-president Given Lubinda. Many more others are likely to contest the position.
‘New’ PF is the way-forward
There is need for a new PF. This means that the new leadership must be put in place. We must have new faces at the helm of the party. In the provinces and at all levels: district, constituency and ward. The change in leadership will make the party have some chance of survival. A true postmortem will show two things. First, it will show that the people of Zambia never liked the PF because of its leadership. Second, the PF membership never accepted or liked the leaders that were imposed on them. One of the two is true as both cannot be false.
In any case, the PF leadership was an accomplice for the atrocities of its general membership that led to the loss of the party. Instead of instilling discipline, the leadership fanned indiscipline. Party cadres were allowed to devour fellow members and outsiders at will and without any repercussions. It is time that those at the helm of the party must take a back sit. They must leave the leadership role to new members. Those identified with ‘old’ PF will be bad omen to the party. The Zambian voter expects new faces. The voters expect ‘new’ PF. We ignore this at our own peril. There will be no PF in 2026. We will only have ourselves to blame if we stick to leadership roles like a ‘kantemba’ regardless as to whether we are wanted or not. This is what has led to the death of the United National Independence Party and MMD. Both former ruling parties dead by their own swords.
Will there be PF in 2026?
As to whether the PF will exist in time for the 2026 general elections depends entirely on how the current leadership led by president Lungu will handle the transition process. Mishandling the process by employing old Satarian tactics of imposition and divide-and-conquer will not work post 2021. It may have worked with Sata in opposition and ECL in power but will not work this time around.
A ruling party does not usually have loyal members but majority are ‘bakandiles’ (bootlickers). Genuine members are found in the opposition. The PF was stronger in 2011 than in 2021 because it had loyal members and not ‘bakandiles’. This is a litmust test for the PF members. The true loyalists will be seen between 2021 and 2026. Others have already defected and abandoned the boat. Others are in hibernation. Others are waiting for opportunities. Others just want to finish their terms on the PF fearing that a defection will trigger a by-election.
The author is a lego-political and social commentator who is a bonafide member of the PF. He is waiting on the wings to take over the chairpersonship for legal affairs.