Maravi

Choosing Levy's successor

Choosing Levy's successor
By Editor
Tuesday February 13, 2007 [02:00]

PRESIDENT Levy Mwanawasa’s approach to the issue of succession that he outlined at the MMD’s National Executive Committee meeting on Sunday deserves to be embraced by the party. If correctly implemented, it will go a long way in saving the MMD from the splits that seriously weakened it in 2001 when Frederick Chiluba schemed to impose Levy on the party as his successor. And as the MMD works to change its leadership in readiness for the 2011 elections, the party shouldn’t forget the serious challenges it faced from Michael Sata and the Patriotic Front in the September 2006 elections. They shouldn’t underestimate Sata and the opposition or their political achievements. In the month before the 2006 elections, Sata skilfully laid bare the areas of life and policy where the public felt dissatisfied and angry with Levy and the MMD.

Sata performed reasonably well in the last elections not merely by default, but because of his talent for capturing the public mood. The MMD should learn from that as it seeks a new leader. Yes, the MMD won the last elections and today this party and its government look strong and confident. But problems lie ahead. They don’t seem to know where they are headed, and that is dangerous. Their great achievement is directionless leadership: Levy appears to be in control, but no one knows where he is leading. We have all made mistakes in our careers. But few people have been consistently wrong on all the great issues that faced our nation over the last fifteen years or so, as this government has been.

Levy has clearly failed to define the purpose of his government. We perceive no ideological roots. We can detect no sense of direction. The MMD shouldn’t be guided by the wish to destroy the opposition; and by the determination to be re-elected in 2011. This is not a recipe for governing well. You cannot run an administration forever on the principle that you are unwilling to do anything that offends. It shouldn’t be forgotten that the MMD from its very inception has been a coalition brought about to win power. That will to win power is the one idea that the members of this government hold in common because they all want to preserve their jobs, positions and privileges. But over the next four to five years or with the passage of time, that may prove an insubstantial glue. The signs of division within the MMD may today be no bigger than a small bream in a jar, but they will grow. The wheel of fortune turns and that which once appeared fresh, with the passing of time, goes to the seed.

It will not be easy for the MMD to win the 2011 elections; they will need to work very, very hard. The Zambian people seem to be looking for a rest from them. There is certainly need to do a lot about themselves. They need better and different leadership and organisation. They need to spread their appeal and win back the support they have lost. As for policies, they should be in no great hurry. They need to get straight what their core beliefs are. They need to take a fresh look at things and renew their party and its leadership. In choosing a new leadership for the MMD, a leadership that will take it to the 2011 elections, they will need to identify what have been the principle factors in their loss of appeal to the great majority of our people living in urban areas.

It is clear to us that Levy and the MMD became increasingly associated with the most disagreeable messages and thoughts. Some of that linkage may be unjustified, but since it is what people thought of them - what people may still think of them - it must be appreciated as a deeply felt distaste, rather than momentary irritation. It cannot be dismissed as mere false perception. Levy and the MMD were linked or are linked to harshness: thought to be uncaring about unemployment, poverty, poor housing. They are also thought to favour greedy and unqualified pursuit of foreign investors, with a ‘devil take the hindmost’ attitude. And this was exploited heavily by Sata and the Patriotic Front in last year’s elections.

Intra-party divisions will continue to haunt the MMD if not properly addressed. The MMD seems to have almost completely abandoned the qualities of loyalty and that bonds of party without which party effectively ceases to exist. Passions about the future of their party rightly fired members up, but wrongly led them to attack and despise their colleagues. They must re-discover the old instincts that led them to support one another and to rally round. There is need for loyalty to their party and to each other. This is a very strong political weapon that shouldn’t be made a secret weapon, it must be displayed in public and re-enforced in private. The impact of disunity in a party doesn’t need much disquisition. To survive the next elections, the MMD and its new leadership will need to display a very high level of camaraderie and common purpose. This will be fundamental to the party’s prospects. Whoever they choose as their new leader will have every right to expect their loyalty publicly and privately. If he does not get it, they stand no chance of winning the 2011 elections.

The other important thing is that the MMD is generally thought to be arrogant and sometimes out of touch. This to some extent has to do with Levy’s personal style and character; much of it is no more than personal mannerisms that grated on the public. Some of it is the insensitivity of people like finance minister Ng’andu Magande - using the language of economics and high finance when people’s jobs and self-esteem were at stake.

The other issue is corruption. As has been recently acknowledged, corruption still runs very high in government. Despite the positive pronouncements or declarations here and there by Levy, very little has been achieved - billions of kwacha are still being stolen from public coffers under Levy’s government. This makes it difficult for most of our people to actually believe that Levy and MMD are fighting corruption. There were incidents like the attempt to protect Kashiwa Bulaya from prosecution for corruption. Levy and his justice minister came very strong in the defence of the nolle prosequi they had granted Bulaya. This disgraced them in the eyes of the public because it was very clear from the reports what Bulaya had done.

Their perception was of corruption and unfitness for public service. Such distasteful perceptions can endure and do them damage for a long time. They should face these issues head-on and deal with them as they try to choose a new leadership for their party. As we have already stated, the approach which Levy has taken to try and deal with this issue early and on the basis of high morals, integrity and unity may yield some positive results. But it needs open and honest discourse; it shouldn’t be a secret affair where only a few privileged individuals have a say.

It’s not all discourse that brings disunity. What matters is how that discourse is conducted. It will always be better to choose the next leadership early and in a transparent manner. The Chiluba methods of anointing a successor don’t seem to be suitable for this purpose.

posted by MrK @ 8:12 PM