By Daimone Siulapwa
THE date for elections may not have been set already, but to all intents and purposes, the campaigns are already underway. Of course, for the likes of Michael Sata, he really never stopped his campaigns even after losing the 2008 presidential by-elections.
In other countries, after an election, the winning candidate is normally given time to implement his election promises although it seems United States President Barack Obama has given-up that right by announcing his re-election bid now despite having two years to go.
However, in the case of Zambia, this has never happened, not since 2001 anyway. After the election victory of Levy Mwanawasa and the Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MMD) in 2001, the likes of Anderson Mazoka (United Party for National Development), Godfrey Miyanda (Heritage Party) and Christon Tembo (Forum for Democracy and Development) sort of went on a holiday.
But Sata never did.[pullquote]But as a society, we need to start moving from there and start voting for individuals based on their credentials[/pullquote]
By the time the 2006 general elections were coming-up, they found themselves trailing behind the ‘King Cobra’ in popularity. In fact, the three, Gen. Miyanda, Gen. Tembo and Mazoka got pre-occupied with the election petition that they forgot that they were opposition leaders who should have been keeping Levy on his toes through-out his rule. The result of this was that, when the 2006 elections came, Sata, who in 2001, was a distant fifth, came out as the only genuine threat against Levy and the ruling Movement for Multi-Party Democracy (MDD). This was so notwithstanding the fact that the UPND had lost its President Anderson Mazoka and the FDD had changed leadership from Gen. Tembo to Edith Nawakwi. But worth noting is the fact that, these two parties had formed an alliance together with the former ruling party, the United National Independence Party (UNIP) called the United Democratic Alliance (UDA).
Despite that, they failed to pose a challenge as serious as the one by Sata, who was helped greatly with his charisma and anti-China tirades as well as ‘more money in your pockets’ message. Although some sections of society genuinely believed that Sata had won the 2006 elections, the Patriotic Front (PF) leader resisted all attempts to waste time by petitioning the results. He knew that it was likely to fail, and as such, an effort in futility.
Instead, he continued with his role as a credible opposition leader, providing checks and balances to Levy and his government, even when it seemed like the Post newspaper had finally gone to bed with the late President, and could not be distinguished in its reportage with the public media. The effect of all this is that when the so-called Presidential by-election came-up in 2008, Sata was in a position to contest credibly. The same cannot be said about the likes of Gen. Miyanda, who at the height of the third term debate, did seem like was going to make it to State House, or at least looked like a genuine contender and not pretender.
Hate him or love him, you cannot doubt the fact that as a political organiser and perhaps strategist, Sata has it all. Of the many people that expressed interest in becoming republican presidents in 2001, only Sata remains the most credible and serious contender. The others such as Ben Mwila, Enock Kavindele, Vincent Malambo, Tilyenji and Eric Silwamba have all gone into oblivion, concentrating their efforts in private business. Others have of course gone to the other side of town.
That said, the point of all this is that, no one should be fooled. Yes, the elections nominations have not yet been filed, but make no mistake, the stage is already set for a showdown. The battle is between Rupiah Banda and Michael Sata come election day with Hakainde Hichilema playing the role of a counter-weight or if you like spoiler. And as the MMD has already held its convention, expect the election date to be announced any time soon. But before that, expect RB to be busy on the road campaigning albeit in a not-so-straight forward manner.
Do not think RB going to Chongwe to commission the mobile hospitals or going to Kitwe to have a press briefing is not a campaign strategy. What is the point here? The opposition should not be fooled by waiting for an election date to be announced for them to start campaigning. They should equally be on the road.
On the other hand, while we know who the contenders for the presidency are i.e RB, Sata and HH, we need to know who the parliamentary candidates are. All the competing parties will help the electorate by announcing the names of their candidates in time so that they can start engaging and gauging them.
For far too long, Zambians have tended to vote on party lines, not that there is anything necessarily wrong with that. But as a society, we need to start moving from there and start voting for individuals based on their credentials. Far too many people entered parliament in 2006 simply because they stood on a particular party ticket, and as such, they were able to ride on the popularity of the leader. And yet, these are people that voters hardly knew or even know up to now. Added to that, candidates who were rejected by some parties simply joined another party and got adopted. Yet, in all truthfulness, it means these people hardly agree with the manifesto of the party they are joining, and their only reason for joining is for them to get to Manda Hill. The result of this is what you call ‘rebel’ MPs.
But we need not come to that level if we are able to scrutinise these candidates carefully. As this country is in a hurry to develop, we need to start ensuring that the best possible brains make it to Parliament. We do not need people there who are there simply to make numbers yet collecting tax payers money, but hardly contribute meaningfully to debates.
