TO UNSEAT UPND, WE MUST GO BEYOND PARTY ALLIANCES AND INCLUDE CSOS, CHURCHES – SP

TO UNSEAT UPND, WE MUST GO BEYOND PARTY ALLIANCES AND INCLUDE CSOS, CHURCHES – SP

SOCIALIST Party General Secretary Dr Cosmas Musumali says the party has not had much success with joining an alliance because they believe political parties are more concerned about positions.

And Dr Musumali says it will take more than political alliances to unseat the UPND government next year, stating that political parties need to work with civil society organisations, traditional leaders and the church to achieve this.

In a recent interview, Dr Musumali said political alliances should go beyond wanting to unseat the UPND government and ensuring that there was a progressive agenda to stabilise the country.

“We went to congress last year and this was one of the items on the agenda, that the Socialist Party should explore alliances with other progressive and patriotic forces. From October last year up to now, we have been trying to explore those chances, it’s not the easiest undertaking, [and] it’s full of uncertainties. We have not had much success but we feel there’s no other way, we have to ensure that we bring people together, we unite people together or become part and parcel of unified forces that want to see change. Zambian politics is dominated by the issue of positions, people go in, of course these are leaders, they go in there, they want to know, if you worked together, what is it they are going to become? That’s a critical issue and a lot of alliances would breakdown because of that,” he explained.

“Yes, we are seeking, we are exploring, despite all difficulties, the chances of working with others but our understanding of alliances is not limited to political parties only. We think, to unseat this government, we have to go beyond political parties, we have to include forces in society such as civil society organisations, the trade unions, academia, the traditional leaders, the churches, and many others.

There has to be a unity of purpose from different segments of society, political parties on their own would not carry a big decisive voice that will bring about that desired change. There’s also a second issue, the second issue is that the agenda should go beyond wrestling power away from the UPND. You have to agree also on a progressive agenda that stabilises this country, that ensures that the economic fundamentals are okay. So agreeing on the agenda can be time consuming but it’s a very necessary step towards achieving unity”.

Dr Musumali also noted that the UPND was sowing seeds of confusion in political alliances that were being formed.

“We are not just interested in seeing the UPND out of government but we have to buy into an agenda that will distinguish what is going on today from what is to come. The third element is that you have also a leadership today of the UPND that’s not interested in political forces coming together so they work quite effectively at sowing seeds of confusion in any alliance that is being initiated.

These three factors work against the formation of broad alliances that would bring about that change, but are we disgruntled, have we ever stopped, the answer is no. Are alliances going to work? We still think so, although time is running out, but there’s no option, we have to come up with alliances. An alliance is not about one [being] a presidential candidate, it’s more than that and participating in something is not always about leading it. President Fred M’membe himself many times has said, you can’t lead if you are not prepared to be led,” said Dr Musumali.

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