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Zambia Cracks of disunity widen in the MMD |
POLITICS
In 1990, the Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD)
was born in Lusaka’s
Garden House, as a pressure group
that made its way into power in 1991.
But
now the party is in deep trouble, of its own making
The cause of the MMD‘s impending demise concerns the current debate over the proposed amendment to Zambia’s Constitution, allowing President Chiluba to bid for a third term in office during the October 2001 presidential elections. Both the MMD‘s Constitution and that of Zambia restrict the presidential tenure of office to two terms of five years each, thus permitting Chiluba to stay in State House until October this year, but no further.
Confusion in the ranks
The debate over a third term in office for Chiluba has created much political melee, confusion and commotion, even within MMD ranks. MMD party conferences in the Lusaka and Southern Provinces have rejected calls for the third term, except for those party members who have developed cold feet through victimisation, intimidation and physical violence. In-fighting has become a common feature within senior party echelons.
In a recent development, two ministers from the Tonga tribe in Southern province, Mr Ackson Sejani, Minister for Local Government and Housing, and the deputy Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Edwin Hatembo, have been dismissed by President Chiluba for their anti-third-term stance. Sejani and Hatembo were axed for their alleged «impertinence and for conduct intended to incite tribal hatred and dissatisfaction».
Further signs of cracks among MMD party faithful are manifest in a statement made by Vice-President (General) Christon Tembo, and MMD party vice-president and Education Minister, Brigadier-General Godfrey Miyanda.
Speaking at the World Day of Prayers at the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Lusaka on 1 March 2001, General Tembo rejected any «personalised» amendments to the Constitution. Referring to the issue of the third term, he said: «Zambia should be governed according to the Constitutional provisions...This country is for all of us, Zambians. It is our responsibility to develop it, to govern it according to approved constitutional provisions, and to maintain our credibility».
Brigadier-General Miyanda described the unfolding sharp and violent differences in the MMD as: «The sand dunes conveniently keep shifting and piling up, and may soon cover all of us and suffocate us before the conclusion of the debate». Miyanda observed that the whole «"third term circus" smacks of bribery, corruption and blatant abuse of the term “democracy”, by twisting its meaning to promote evil schemes for the convenience of an individual».
It is interesting to note that both gentlemen conveniently chose to speak their minds when President Chiluba was in Libya attending the OAU Extraordinary Heads of State and Government Summit.
People are wondering if Chiluba intends to take any disciplinary action against these two members of the armed forces, who are deemed to have «committed the same offence» as Sejani and Hatembo.
But before he could settle down to study the contents of Miyanda’s hard-hitting statement, the President suffered another severe setback, when one of his few close allies, the Legal Affairs Minister, Mr Vincent Malambo, disowned the third term. Malambo, who is a Tonga from Southern Province, charged: «The game of politics, constitutional governance and democracy, must surely have some fundamental rules whose definition ought to be independent of the needs of those presently in the game. The Constitution is too important to be played around with. It is certainly not written in sand to be washed away by each wave of political expedience».
President Chiluba has his defenders. The Information and Broadcasting Services Minister and a spokesperson for the government, Mr Newstead Zimba, says that although Chiluba has allowed debate on the matter, he has not made a decision to continue in office.
Civil society is calling for President Chiluba to come «into the open» and state his intentions «loud and clear», instead of playing a cunning political game of hide-and-seek. It is ironical that while Chiluba has allowed debate about his bid for a third term in office, he has banned debate on the campaign for the party presidency and about the delayed MMD convention, which is expected to determine the future of the party and its leader, ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections in October this year.
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