THE ZAMBIAN OPPOSITION’S PRICE OF ENDORSING ZANU-PF
I still can’t wrap my head around why opposition parties in Zambia were probably the only opposition parties in Southern Africa to endorse and celebrate the ZANU-PF victory. They even poured scorn on the SADC observer mission which is supposed to be their ally in terms policing electoral fraud in the future elections.
I can understand why ANC was quick to praise ZANU-PF, they are both liberation parties with a high sense of entitlement for self-preservation and are yet to face a population that has turned the page, away from the liberation pride to the progressive developmental ambition. PF for example is totally different from their “adopted brother” ZANU-PF because it does not even have a clear ideology, because its assumption to power was based on pure populism. That is why PF was able to U-turned from its anti-china rhetoric with a simple handshake to end up claiming to be China’s best friend. Socialist Party on the other hand claims an outdated ideology that even its vision carrier does not practice. The SP members don’t even understand the legal, economic and social reconfigurations, if at all there are any, required to make socialism work. Whilst ZANU-PF has real issues with the west, Fred Mmembe has imginary issues which he is trying to inculcate in the Zambian psyche. This is the mismatch between the Zambian oppositions parties and the ZANU-PF, and that is why there fellow opposition parties in SADC are laughing at them.
What message has PF and SP or even ANC sent to Zambia and Southern Africa by endorsing a fraudulent election? Here is what I think:
1. PF/SP are telling us they won’t rely on the work of the SADC observor mission in 2026, because according to them it is doctored in a language of imperialists. It will be embarrassing in the future for them to ride on any of their concerns.
2. According to ANC, the Zimbabwe elections was a victory for Pan-Africanism, meaning to achieve Pan-Africanism one has to steal votes from fellow Africans.
3. PF and SP are telling us that the precedent set in Malawi’s nullification of election results which prompted SADC to revisit it approach in election monitoring can be squashed and we can reset SADC to default settings of being impotent when it comes to electoral malpractice.
4. PF and SP have deep hatred for HH, that if it means endorsing a fraudulent election in which HH’s purported ally was defeated, they are ready to do that with a straight face.
5. SP and PF are so shamelessness they can associate themselves to an election victory of party that has presided over some of the greatest hardships that any citizens of any country have ever experienced.
6. While we have the pride of having replaced a one party state, shaken off a dorminant liberation party, elected seven different presidents and three different political parties, SP and PF reversed all those gains by going to dine with a dictatorial liberation party that left the rest of southern africa confused.
7. The most embarrassing of all is Nakachiinda who said, “There are lot of positives that Zambia can borrow and learn in the manner the ZANUPF leadership has managed the just ended elections..” This statement mocked most Zimbabweans, it was an injustice on Zambia.