Maureen for President?

The momentum seems to be gathering for Mrs Mwanawasa to offer herself as a candidate for the MMD leadership and republican presidency. People are using Hillary Clinton as an example of a former first lady running for the highest political office. I think the comparison is wrong. The two situations are totally different and the MMD publicity machine should not mislead the general public. Hillary is not the spouse of an incumbent president. She is a senator. As a result she has no access to the White House machinery and resources to support her candidature. She has had to raise campaign funds independently and has perhaps used her network of contacts from the White House days to drum up support. On the other hand Maureen is married to the current president. If she were to declare her candidature, she would have access to GRZ funds and resources under the guise of first lady. Cast your minds back to the time when Vera Chiluba Tembo was riding high with her "op foundation". Had she remained first lady, she could have easily mounted a challenge for plot 1 with the support of FTJ and won the race. However, after being cast away by FTJ, no one has ever heard of Hope Foundation and Vera has gone on to become an MP and Minister under the New Deal govt. Vera would not even dream of running for presidency now because she knows the chances of her winning are nil.

If Mrs. Mwanawasa thinks she has what it takes to run the country, she should vacate plot one with her husband in 2011 and then mount a challenge 5 years later. If she wins the race in 2016 I will eat my words!

The PANEL.