PF a hindrance to an alternative opposition
By Kachingwe Singoyi
The former ruling party, Patriotic Front (PF), is a hindrance to the emergence of an alternative opposition political party in Zambia due to their numbers in parliament, and the PF leadership knows this fact hence the dillydallying we have been seeing in PF holding their special national convention to replace former president Edgar Lungu.
First it was June 2022 and now it is slated for March 2023. The former ruling party has 60 members of parliament against the ruling UPND’s 86, 13 Independents and five other opposition political parties. This makes PF the main opposition political party in parliament. But as long as PF is seen as the alternative to the UPND, Zambians will be at bay to vote for the opposition and the just past by-elections across the country speak to that.
The PF leadership has been reluctant to hold a special convention due to the inevitable splits that will come out of that convention. And those splits will extend to the membership in parliament for both PF MPs and pro PF Independent MPs culminating into the end of the PF era and the rise of an alternative opposition political party. I say an alternative opposition political party because PF in its current form can’t be regarded as an alternative to the UPND. Look at the level of opposing debate in parliament from the so-called opposition and independent MPs! It leaves much to be desired.
Zambia needs an alternative opposition political party that will be able to counter the UPND neoliberal policies that are anchored on the IMF programme which came as a result of the large fiscal and external imbalances from the PF’s years of economic mismanagement, especially an overly ambitious public investment drive that did not yield any significant boost to growth or revenues. This is another reason why PF can’t be the alternative to the UPND.
The UPND’s neoliberal policies with their IMF package will entail reduced government spending. These policies will also be seen as being associated with reduced social spending and income inequality, if not already the case. The new dawn government needs an opposition that will not only push them to deliver and give sound checks and balances but also offer alternative solutions to our people’s daily challenges. That opposition should be anchored in the people, simply because people have solutions to their own challenges if only leaders can care to listen, the more reason why people govern and leaders lead.
The alternative opposition political party that is driven by the masses should offer sustainable tangible social and economic transformation and not cosmetic reforms. The opposition should have a clear social and economic programme that outlines the philosophy and guiding principles of the party, fundamentals of economic policy and sectoral programmes. A pro-poor party that emphasises the control and ownership of the commanding heights of the economy as a prerequisite for restoration of the economic sovereignty of our country and this means participation should be through direct ownership and control, royalties, effective taxation of profits, and other arrangements that should be deemed appropriate for job creation, poverty alleviation and rapid rural and economic development.
Now, such an alternative opposition political party does not sound like the ‘rebranded’ PF party we see. All one needs to do is to see the mediocrity on the official Patriotic Front Facebook page to have an idea of the main opposition party in Zambia today. But the fact remains, PF has the numbers in parliament which rightfully qualify them to be the main opposition. They can afford to be arrogant and use the numbers to vent their frustrations for having lost the 2021 presidential elections instead of offering credible checks and balances to the UPND government.
The author is a Pan-Africanist.