The opposition Party of National Unity and Progress (PNUP) has called for the inclusion of the coalition clause in the constitution if political alliances are to work in Zambia.
PNUP president Highvie Hamududu said at a press briefing in Solwezi that alliances can only work in Zambia if there is a coalition clause included in the constitution.
Mr. Hamududu, who is also former Bweengwa constituency Member of Parliament under the United Party for National Development (UPND) ticket, said Zambia’s first coalition government was made in 1962 because there was a coalition clause in the constitution.
“Why do you support anyone without a binding agreement? That is criminality, then you start complaining that this guy betrayed me, how can he not betray you when there are no constitutional safeguards?” he asked.
Mr. Hamududu said alliances must be founded on agreed principles bound by law.
He said political alliances are not possible now because the constitution does not provide coalition.
He further stated that the current alliances are basically there to create a horse and a rider type of a relationship.
“So for us, we advocate that we should have a coalition clause. Next time we have a constitutional review, our submission is that we must have coalition clause so that things are binding by law not just you meet behind a tree, agree and grab power, after grabbing power you start fighting then the country suffers,” he said.
Mr. Hamududu explained that alliances that are not founded on principles are bound to collapse as they are not based on fundamentals.
He said his party is ready to go into an alliance with any political party as long as they agree on policy such as exportation of maize and allowing millers to export mealie meal as his party believes in a free market economy, public private partnership (ppp) and investment.
And Mr. Hamududu has disclosed that his party will participate in the August, 2021 general elections.
Why do you need babysitting to cooperate as parties? How did Chakwera and his alliance manage without a coalition clause kwao uko ku Malawi?
Alliances in Zambia do not work because of greed. People go in these alliances for one reason to remove the ruling party with no other plans whatsoever. And then they get stack at the same point as who leads the group. On the coalition clause, this is coming from someone who has been in parliament before. What do you guys do in parliament?
Mr. Hamududu has a valid point on coalition clause.Currently, political alliancesances are not legally protected and the current Constitution demands that the alliance be registered as a political party much to the detriment of the survival of participating parties as was the case with United Democratic Alliance (UDA) comprising UPND,FDD,UNIP etc
In any alliance, it is important to base such on first common values and second on existing provisions of the law. Yes, president Hamududu, a coalition clause would provide a departure point but that alone would not guarantee success of alliances. The core issue is that alliances in Zambia are not based on ideology nor values but on loose arrangements to win an election. This is why they fail. In other countries, Alliances have worked without coalition clauses because they are established on sound ideologies or shared values. An election should not form the basis of alliances in my opinion. Your point of view gives food for thought!
The only alliances which work are one man parties who want to be associated with bigger parties.