President Edgar Lungu Must Distance Himself From The PF CEO’s Exculpatory Letters.
It’s incredible that the Patriotic Front (PF) can wash its dirty linen in public through its party Secretary General following the recent embarrassing fall of the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10. This circus, however, must be confined to walls of the PF Secretariat and not extended to State House because there we have the President of the Republic of Zambia who must, at all cost, defend the Constitution of the land.
The three Members of Parliament the PF Secretary General is trying to punish for their Constitutional decision not to vote for Bill 10 are protected by the same Constitution that President Edgar Lungu swore to uphold and defend. And the PF’s decision is in complete contrast to the statement issued by the Government Chief Whip Hon. Brian Mundubile in which he challenged the UPND Leader, Mr. Haakainde Hichilema, to respect his Members of Parliament stating that they are not his little children who he can command at any time to do his will and not their Parliamentary functions.
Speaking on ZNBC radio 2 Evening Show programme, Hon. Mundubile said and we quote, “President Edgar Chagwa Lungu respects his MPs because he understands their role to both their party and the people they represent in their Constituencies”, while emphasising the fact that UPND MPs worked against the success of the Constitution Amendment Bill No. 10 because Mr. Hichilema withdrew them and locked them up like his little children. This has been the narrative of the PF, condemning the Mr. Hakainde Hichilema for preventing his MPs from representing their Constituents on issues of national interest.
If anything it is this issue of representation, or the lack of if, that has been advanced to justify the wasteful by-elections especially at the Ward level. This decision by the PF Secretary General must be condemned by all true proponents of democracy but more importantly, it goes on to validate our call for the people of Zambia to fully understand the true definition of democracy which in no way means multiparty or plural politics.
The word democracy, which derives from the Greek word “demos” meaning “the people”, simply means people participating in the important societal decisions which affect their lives. Nowhere does it imply western plural politics. But since in the actual setup, each individual cannot meaningfully participate in decisions for the whole, it has come to mean decision-making by “representatives”, who are said to decide and act on behalf of the people, not their political parties.
And this has always been our greatest fear; where electoral parties are not based on differing fundamental values, as is the case in the west, where the current political system originates, they unnecessarily interfere in the direct relationship between the Constituents and their representatives. The preparation of exculpatory letters clearly makes it mandatory that Members of Parliament must listen more to the needs of their party presidents than those of who voted for them, leaving electorates defranchised.
This, unfortunately, is not democracy but dictatorship and no intelligent justification, in whichever form it is given, is acceptable because in a democracy leaders listen to the people’s needs and not vice versa. It is, in fact, this sort of ideological fallacy that has led people to believe they have a choice in political decisions, when in the actual fact they do not.
Multi-party politics in the early days of the US Republic, for instance, was frowned upon. George Washington even discouraged the idea because he feared parties would interfere with elected officials’ ability to represent the common interest. One wonders whether people should trust independent Members of Parliament more that political party seats come August 2021. How many times have we seen parties adopting candidates who are unpopular on the ground?
Having advanced our position on the subject, it’s our belief that the PF Secretary General’s decision does not have the blessings of the Head of State, His Excellency President Edgar Chagwa Lungu, who happens to be the PF president, with president carrying a small letter p. If that is the case, this should explain the numerous intra-party wrangles the Patriotic Front is going through. We question the leadership qualities of the Patriotic Front CEO.
The Head of State and those close to him must always realise that leadership is the ability to identify and put those with the technical know-how and ability in key positions needing such expertise with a view to realising sustainable economic development that must benefit an ordinary child in rural Zambia. Politics should not be a self preservation tool but a vehicle for development. Some senior members in this government are making President Edgar Lungu to appear as a leader of a Russian circus.
Mpandashalo Evans Mwewa
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