NO doubt the PF has gone from being left wing in opposition to being theft wing under Edgar Lungu in government, Chanda Mfula has said.
Chanda Mfula, a first PF media director, in a Facebook post entitled ‘From a ‘leftist’ opposition to a ‘theftist’ government’, noted that the ruling party under Michael Sata was accused of having been more populist than leftist.
“To be frank, apart from South Africa’s EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters of Julius Malema), which is clearly leftist, few political parties these days appear to have any clear ideology within the conventional Left-Right continuum. Some hybridity can be seen in some cases but there appears to be more of a shift away from the traditional continuum. Even the PF under late Michael Sata has been accused of having been more populist than leftist,” Mfula said.
He further noted that in fact, when the PF formed government, it was not always going to maintain the leftist rhetoric because it was an assemblage of individuals from a range of ideological persuasions and pretensions.
Mfula recalled that there was, for instance, Guy Scott, an unapologetic Keynesian believer and Alexander Chikwanda, who seemed to be rightist in one sense and centrist in another.
“Then there was Wynter Kabimba pushing the leftist ideas, urged on by Fred M’membe. In between was a large group of ideological know-nothings and do-nothings but who had political clout because of their populist antics and capacity to mobilise support,” Mfula said.
Mfula, who is currently pursuing his Doctorate in Media studies, Journalism and Democracy at University of Sussex, concluded that even the power struggle that erupted in the party just under two years in government had an underlying ideological hue beyond the power hunger of the various factions.
“Ultimately, it wasn’t the rightist, centrist or leftist, but the theftist leadership of Edgar Lungu that prevailed,” said Mfula.