OPPOSITION FAILING TO UNITE BECAUSE OF PF – KALABA
CITIZENS First president Harry Kalaba says opposition unity is failing because of the Patriotic Front’s insistence on being the anchor party. Kalaba says his party was not formed to escort another party into government.
Speaking when he appeared on Emmanuel Mwamba Verified, Kalaba was asked why opposition unity had been elusive.
In response, he said no one was going to get into a partnership where they were looked down upon.
“One of the biggest problems we have had with opposition unity is the propensity by the former ruling party, the Patriotic Front, in wanting to always be the anchor. I think they want to take the master seat every time and in the process they clearly show you that you are inconsequential in the matter. That is not the way unity will work and nobody is going into a partnership where they are being looked down upon, that will not work,” Kalaba said.
Asked to further explain his allegations, Kalaba said it was a fact, adding that if not addressed, a solution was not going to be found.
“I think this allegation is not even an allegation, this is a fact. It’s a matter of fact and if we are not going to speak facts, we are not going to find a solution to this. Why did UKA collapse? UKA collapsed because outside players, especially from the former ruling party, there was a feeling that they are the ones that should lead UKA, they are the ones that should determine the terms of reference, they are the ones that should say this and that. At the end of the day, the members within UKA began feeling frustrated and felt they were not as important as they thought they would contribute to the process. Now if that issue is not looked at very critically, we will have a problem,” he said.
“I have said this to colleagues even as late as last week when I met Honourable Stephen Kampyongo in Mungwi when we were putting to rest Paramount Chief Chitimukulu’s wife. I did tell him that for as long as there is this feeling that others should just escort you and accompany you to get back into power, there will be a problem. People must discern genuinely that there is a need for us to compare notes and people feel important in the process. So it is not an allegation, this is a feeling that I have come to extrapolate myself interacting with my colleagues. And if this is not dealt with… You have seen, even now as you are speaking, the challenges which they are having in their other organisation which they have, partly it’s because of the same thing”.
Kalaba insisted that opposition unity should be genuine, not one that undermined other political organisations.
“So when you are talking about unity, regardless of size, it is important to be considered important. For as long as you are calling me to a meeting and you have given me space on the table, give me a chance to also speak and be heard. But if it will be like this, ‘no we have already decided’, then we will tell you ‘go ahead and decide then, why did you call me?’ So if we are talking about opposition unity, it must be genuine, anything devoid of that will be academic and we will go into the elections just like the way it is. Because as I said earlier, the Citizens First is looking for unity. We have gone to all these political players on the market because we feel that unity is paramount, but it will not be done at the expense of undermining an organisation that has struggled to be where it is,” he said.
“Again I’ll refer to my brother Stephen because he is a close brother of mine, when we were in Kasama again we were at St Anns together and he was saying, ‘I think you people should come to us, we are the bigger brothers.’ The fact of the matter is that there was an election in 2021, the people decided, they removed the Patriotic Front and put in the UPND. Now it is from there that we should all begin to be humble and understand that if we don’t get humble for us to see what progress we can make [together], it will be very difficult. The people of Zambia should be given an opportunity to look at all of us without each one of us being looked at because you are coming from this party, you are coming from that party, it will only be unity if other parties support one party. I think that is not going to work”.
He added that his party was not launched to sacrifice itself for others.
“I also hear this, ‘I think Citizens First are spoilers.’ Spoilers to who? How can we be spoilers? You saw us launching the party, you thought when the party was being launched it was just going to be shelved? You saw us going round the country having various meetings, organising our structures. Did you think that was going to end at just that? That was going to end at elections, it was not just going to end at us talking to people and not go into elections. Parties are formed to participate in elections. It is important to admit that as CF, we are not an academic party. One will say whatever they want, but the fact of the matter is that we are here to stay and we will not be available to play a role where we are going to be obliterated. In the end, we get obliterated and we strengthen another party at our own expense,” said Kalaba.
“This issue of just saying partner and defeat the UPND, while that theory might be good, sometimes you partner and have bigger problems when you form government. We need to partner with similar ideologies, we need to agree… For us as Citizens First, we remain open to reach out to everyone but we are saying unity must be done in sincerity. It must not be unity of undermining one another because when all is said and done, the Citizens First was not formed to escort anybody to power. The Citizens First was not formed to maintain anybody in power, the Citizens First was formed with a clear view, clear understanding that the times must change, that the politicians must change their ways or the ways will change them. This is why the CF was formed”.
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