Maravi

Sata - change your politics (Editorial, The Post)

Sata - change your politics
By Editor
Wednesday February 14, 2007 [02:00]

Michael Sata’s approach to national politics is increasingly becoming negative and dangerous. We live in a nation that is a constitutional multi-party democracy. This means we will always have politicians and political parties in opposition. If the opposition will always see its role as frustrating or tearing to pieces everything that those in government are trying to do, then multi-party politics in this country will not deliver anything positive for our people.

If our politicians in the opposition strongly believe that they will always have nothing to do with those in government then we are headed for disaster; multi-party politics has failed us because we don’t have the culture of compromise, tolerance and consensus building that it calls for. It is absolutely ridiculous for Sata to insist on mayors who are members of his party not to take part in state functions. What is wrong with Patriotic Front mayors going to the airport to welcome important guests to our country? The Patriotic Front mayor of Lusaka did the right thing to go to the airport and welcome Chinese President Hu Jintao who was an important visitor to our country. And she should do so whenever there is an important visitor to our country. The mayor of Lusaka occupies a very important place in our country by simply being the leader of our capital city.

Sata should do everything possible to recognise and accept the concept of “loyal opposition”. The idea of loyal opposition is a very important one and is indispensable to a functioning multi-party democracy. It means, in essence, that all sides in a multi-party democracy share a common commitment to its basic values. Political competitors don’t necessarily have to like each other, but they must tolerate one another and acknowledge that each has a legitimate and important role to play. Moreover, the ground rules must encourage tolerance and civility in the way politics are conducted. No matter who wins, both sides should agree in solving common problems and challenges that face the nation. If there are disputes about how the elections were conducted, let these issues be resolved by our courts of law and once adjudicated upon, life should continue as normal.

The opposition has a duty to participate in public life because it has an essential role in any democracy worth the name. The opposition is loyal not to the specific policies of those in government, but to the fundamental legitimacy of the state, and to the democratic process itself. There is a difference between Levy Mwanawasa as Head of State and him as leader of the ruling MMD. The MMD is not the state. And Levy himself is not the state. For this reason , there should be no difference-political or otherwise - that should stop the opposition from participating in state affairs.

However, care should be taken by the MMD to ensure that it doesn’t turn state affairs into party activities. In short, state affairs should not be organised by the MMD and those in the ruling party should not dominate such functions. If our politicians and their political parties continue to perceive multi-party democracy as nothing more than a forum in which they can press their political demands, the nation can shatter from within. A multi-party democracy needs the commitment of all citizens, of all politicians who accept the inevitability of conflict as well as the necessity for tolerance.

And the success of a multi-party democracy depends largely on the development of a democratic civic culture. By civic culture we mean the behaviours, practices and norms that define the ability of a people to govern themselves. There is nothing wrong in Sata and the Patriotic Front wishing Levy and the MMD government well. If they are really patriots, they should wish to see our country succeed in all areas of human endeavour regardless of who is in government. There’s no need for them to gloat over national reverses nor talk down the successes of Levy and his MMD government. They should wish to see Zambia behaving honourably, being an influence for good in Africa and the world. They should wish to see the economy grow and support government measures aimed at improving the economy. They shouldn’t look to defeat the MMD on the back of national failure. There will be sufficient grounds without that to argue for their removal at the next elections.

What Sata and the Patriotic Front need are patience and principles. Opportunities there will be. Their time will come if they work hard, in an honest and principled manner. We therefore urge Sata to stop victimising members of his political party who today occupy very important positions in our local government. Mayors and councillors from the opposition are part of the state and need to cooperate with other state officials and functionaries for them to deliver the many services needed and expected by our people across the width and breadth of our country.

In a multi-party democracy, those in government need the cooperation of those in the opposition to deliver in an efficient, effective and orderly manner the services required by our people. This therefore calls for the leadership of our political parties to do everything possible to engender the necessary cooperation of all our people in politics.

There is need for our politicians to realise that they are not in a fight with each other for survival, but they are engaged in a competition with each other to serve our people. And regardless of who is in government, they should all cooperate to solve the many problems facing our people. Sata needs to urgently change his approach to politics. The political line he is pursuing now is not a positive one, it is a destructive one. There’s just too much cynicism on his part. But we know from experience that a nation cannot be built and developed on cynicism - cynics have never built and developed any community. They have instead hindered the prospects for the building and development of strong and prosperous communities.

Labels: DEMOCRACY, SATA

posted by MrK @ 8:47 PM