The Mast Editorial Comment
PF shouldn’t mask difficulties,
mistakes and failures
IT’S said that in any competition, defeat is painful, but only becomes poisonous if you swallow it. And the PF seem not to have accepted that defeat and moved over it – it is still haunting them. They are living in total denial. And they seem comfortable living a lie! But it is said, “The truth may hurt for a little while but a lie hurts forever.”
And Albert Einstein warned that, “A ship is always safe at the shore, but that is not what it is built for.”
PF can’t lick their wounds forever. They must come to reality.
But it seems the August 12, 2021 defat has really poisoned the PF such that they might fail to mobilise for the next elections if they continue postponing their problem, which is party leadership reshuffle and the inescapable rebranding exercise.
And Kantanshi PF member of parliament Anthony Mumba says it would be interesting to read in detail the report on the PF loss that has been shelved and not shared with members of parliament.
He wonders when the PF was going to sit and make big decisions for the benefit and future of the party.
Mumba says he would not be surprised to hear that the date for the PF convention has been moved.
“Why would I even be surprised when I don’t even know the dates? Everybody has to be part of the strategy and I think that was a purpose of the meeting that Honourable [Given] Lubinda [acting PF president] called for, few days before the [Kabwata Constituency parliamentary] by-election. So, all along what has been happening?” asks Mumba.
After last year’s humiliating defeat the PF have stood on a mountain top telling the whole nation that they are rebranding. And the first part of this rebranding involved carrying out a postmortem on their electoral defeat. Their acting president Given Lubinda went on various radio stations, claiming that they were welcoming every feedback so that it could help them in the rebranding process. Additionally, PF leaders promised to release this report to their general membership and chat the way forward as they prepared for the general conference where they could elect new leaders.
It is therefore surprising that none of their members outside the central committee is aware of the contents of the postmortem report. And none of them is aware of the day of the general conference.
In fact, prior to last year’s elections, PF used a mirage, preaching illusions that were in their faces or heads that they were popular and they would win an election. But they lost the election humiliatingly. After that, they conducted a postmortem, got the outcome but they don’t want to share it with their membership.
They have kept the date of the convention to themselves, and yet they’ve been preaching in public domain that they’re rebranding. And the leadership is the first one to condemn the juniors who haven’t attended meetings that are organised at short notice.
When critical issues of the party which talk about the future of the party are demanded by the membership, the leadership wants to be defensive – keepings things under wraps. Isn’t this arrogance of power; the same trait they showed when they were in government? The same arrogance blocked them from seeing the reality that Zambians had disqualified them already. They had to wait for that defeat for for them to realise that Zambians did not want them anymore.
So, for as long as they continue this way, there will be no rebranding of the PF. Not until they begin to treat their membership with respect, forget about rebranding. They cannot keep such an important document away from their members and expect loyalty from a leadership that continues to be disrespectful and treacherous even after losing power. Why do they want to ambush their members with this postmortem report? And why are they not revealing the convention date to their membership?
Perhaps it is this behaviour from the PF central committee members which explains why some of the members of parliament have decided to stand aloof. After all, which normal person would want to support a leadership that behaves like a bunch of gods; a leadership that wants to posture even when they are down?
The PF leadership should for once show transparency, especially that they are back in opposition now. We are deeply convinced that the PF have had a lot to learn from both sides of the coin: 10 years in opposition, 10 years in government, and now back into opposition. It’s such a remarkable political record they have broken! They will claim this and that success, but it won’t take them anywhere. If they really seek to come back to power, they need to consider doing these things: accept that they are no longer in power because Zambians don’t want them for now. Respect the views of their members; disclose no findings of their postmortem, and then call for a convention quickly so that all positions can be filled up by elected leaders. Had they gone for an elective convention last year, all these leadership problems the PF are battling with – self-inflicted – have would have not been there. How can a political party have an acting president, acting vice-president, acting secretary general and acting deputy secretary general?
Acting everything and everyone is in an acting capacity with an illegal appointing authority!
This is a joke!
All these acting this and that were appointed by Edgar Lungu, the man who is claiming to have resigned from the party presidency.
So, if he really resigned, under which powers did he appoint Given and Nickson Chilangwa? The PF has lived in confusion from the time it was founded. It was founded on confusion and it will die in the same way if all those involved do not own up.
This reminds us about the words of Amilcar Cabral who advised that, “We must practice revolutionary democracy in every aspect of our Party life. Every responsible member must have the courage of his responsibilities, exacting from others a proper respect for his work and properly respecting the work of others. Hide nothing from the masses of our people. Tell no lies. Expose lies whenever they are told. Mask no difficulties, mistakes, failures. Claim no easy victories.”
Napoleon Hill adds that, “When defeat comes, accept it as a signal that your plans are not sound, rebuild those plans, and set sail once more toward your coveted goal.”