Proliferation of political parties

In the last couple of months the country has witnessed a number of new political parties being formed. We have had parties fronted by Elias Chipimo, Charles Milupi and more recently Peter Magande. There are already more than 10 existing opposition parties with the leading parties being PF (Sata), UPND (Hakainde) and UNIP. While we recognise the right of every Zambian to aspire to lead our beautiful country, a dose of reality is also necessary. Other than PF, none of the other parties stand a chance of unseating the ruling MMD. Data from past elections prove this.

2002 Presidential Elections: MMD 28.69%, UPND 26.76%, FDD 12.96%.

2006 Presidential Elections: MMD 43%, PF 29.4%, UPND 25.3%.

2008 Presidential Elections: MMD 40%, PF 38.1%, UPND 19.7%.

The data set clearly shows that forming more political parties will just increase the chances of the MMD retaining power as the opposition votes will simply be split. This is the reason why a number of us were excited by the possibility of the PF/UPND PACT fielding a single candidate in the next presidential elections. This presented the best chance to rid the country of the discredited MMD government. Unfortunately the PACT seems to be crumbling in the last few days and we are once again heading for an election where the opposition are fighting each other.

Milupi, Chipomo and Magande need to put personal interests second and help revitalise the PACT. This is what the majority of Zambians want. They do not need more one-man parties. Let us be clear, Magande has no political following. The man even struggled to win the Chilanga seat. Chipimo is a political novice while Milupi thinks his success in leading the public account committee (PAC) in the National Assembly is proof that he can win the next elections.

I am not a fan of Sata but at the moment he presents the best chance of changing the course of the country. Lets all do everything in our power to help him win the elections next year. I have suggested in the past that HH could be Sata’s Vice President to enable him gain some experience of being in government with the view of running for President in 2016.

I also appeal to PF and UPND to stop the public squabbling, concentrate cementing the PACT and start drawing a strategy for next elections. The MMD have already started their campaign with a series of adverts on ZXNBC and You tube!

The PANEL