THE determination of some people in PF to get power by all means will not be accepted, says political analyst Dr Alex Ng’oma. And Dr Ng’oma has advised Edgar Lungu and his team to realise that acting President Dr Guy Scott can make a difference in their campaigns. In an interview, Dr Ng’oma said the general membership of the Patriotic Front is mandated to elect their leader than allowing an individual to select another. He said democracy did not allow one to be ‘anointed’ in order to take over leadership. “As for the PF, they should know that there should always be someone to lead the party without taking shortcuts whatsoever.
It is a serious weakness to allow one person to select another as a successor. The general membership is supposed to choose a leader,” Dr Ng’oma said. “In a democratic nation, there is nothing like this one anointed this one or that one. The kind of determination we see in some people to get power by all means is not good and it is evident that that person cannot be accepted.” He said there was need for political parties in Zambia to respect those they had put in leadership. Dr Ng’oma said the factionalism in both the MMD and the PF was likely to work to the detriment of the political parties. He further said there was also need for the government to start regulating political parties because they were appearing to be threatening the peace and perpetrating disunity and anarchy.
And Dr Ng’oma said there was need for Lungu to realise that his camp needed acting President Scott if they wanted to win the January 20, election. “Lungu and his team should find a way of bringing acting President Scott on board. They just have to find a way of working together because acting President Scott is a key person to have in their campaign team if they want to win the election,” he said. “The PF should find a way of bringing the two teams together. One team will not be able to win without the other, they need to work together, especially with Scott, they need him because he will definitely be a big addition to the Lungu team.” Dr Ng’oma said there was need for political players to understand that their behaviour greatly discouraged their members from voting for them. He said the PF needed to realise that their differences would keep some members away as they would believe that the party was unstable. “Stability in a political party is key and party members should always inspire their members to stay in the party. But people do not always want to associate themselves with violence and political parties should understand that they always have a price to pay during elections,” said Dr Ng’oma. –
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