Maravi

Let the best candidate win

Let the best candidate win
By Editor
Thursday February 21, 2008 [03:00]

None of our political parties should be proud of having thugs wielding machetes and pangas and drunk on Chibuku masquerading as their political party cadres. We have heard of criminals masquerading as cadres of our political parties that are contesting the Kanyama by-election, harassing innocent people and destroying property; these rogues should have no place in our politics. Multiparty politics without civility, without tolerance and without the ability to live and campaign in peace are useless.

As home affairs minister Lt Gen Ronnie Shikapwasha has correctly observed, we are planting a bad seed and if we don’t act now, we will end up like Kenya.

The type of behaviour we have witnessed in the Kanyama by-election is a danger to peace which we should not tolerate out of political expediency. It is good Lt Gen Shikapwasha is not taking a partisan position on this issue. He has condemned all the violence, be it from his ruling MMD or opposition Patriotic Front and UPND. But this is not enough, more needs to be done.

If the law enforcement agencies were operating effectively and efficiently, there would have been no way thugs would be carrying machetes and pangas in broad daylight on their political campaigns. Moreover, it is an offence to move around with offensive weapons of this nature.

Once a culture of violence takes root, we will have a lot of problems in this country because no one has the monopoly of violence; violence begets violence.

Why should someone try to attack UPND president Hakainde Hichilema on his campaign trail in Kanyama? How is he expected to be in politics and to lead a political party if he cannot freely move around and campaign for his party’s candidate?

And as we have stated before, there is no political competition that can justify this criminal behaviour – the injuring of UPND chairman for elections Sibote Sibote and several other cadres of his party, the injuring of Gertrude Siatula and leaving her with deep cuts in her shoulders and ribs. There is no proclaimed political position that can justify the atrocious attack on minister Peter Daka’s motor vehicle, damaging windows.

This type of crime should not be tolerated or treated softly simply because it is connected to elections. Those involved in these crimes should be hunted, found, arrested and prosecuted. They actually deserve a treatment worse than that accorded to common criminals.

We need to start instilling in our political cadres a culture of civility, tolerance and humility which places the humanity of others above everything else.

There is need to teach our cadres to recognise and accept that all citizens have a right to participate in the politics of this country and in the choice of our leaders at all levels without hindrance.

Contrary to some perceptions, a healthy democratic society is not simply an arena in which individuals pursue their own personal goals.

Democracies flourish when they are tended by citizens willing to use their rights to participate in the life of their society – adding their voices to the public debate, electing representatives who are held accountable for their actions, and accepting the need for tolerance and compromise in public life or politics.

They should enjoy the right of individual freedom, but they should also share the responsibility of joining with others to shape the future that will continue to embrace the fundamental values of freedom.

Broadly speaking, these responsibilities entail participating in the democratic process to ensure its functioning. At a minimum, citizens should educate themselves about the critical issues confronting their society – if only to vote intelligently for candidates running for political office. The essence of democratic action is the active, freely chosen and unhindered participation of citizens in the public life of their community and nation.

Without this broad, sustaining participation, democracy will begin to wither and become the preserve of those who can intimidate, harass and scare others the most. In short, it will be rule of the jungle where the survival of the fittest is the norm.

There is need for our politicians to have unhindered freedom to campaign so that their messages can be delivered to, and heard by, the electorate. This is because whatever level of their contribution, a healthy democracy depends upon the continuing, informed participation of the broad range of its citizens.

It is therefore imperative that the state have the power to maintain order and punish criminal acts that have the effect of stopping people from enjoying their democratic rights.

We need to hold free and fair elections so that citizens are confident that the results are accurate and reflect the will of the voters.

What we should strive to achieve is a situation where no matter who wins today’s by-election in Kanyama, all must agree to cooperate in solving the common problems of that constituency. After all, this by-election is not a contest for survival among those taking part, but a competition to serve the people of Kanyama. If this is the case, why should they be hacking each other with machetes and pangas?

If our politicians continue to perceive democracy as nothing more than a forum in which they can win elections and pursue their own interests, the society can shatter from within. A democratic society needs the commitment of citizens who accept the inevitability of conflict as well as the necessity for tolerance.

As we have stated before, democracy is not a set of revealed, unchanging truths, but the mechanism by which, through the clash and compromise of ideas, individuals and their political parties, the people can, however imperfectly, reach for the truth and govern themselves in a better way.

Let this be the last time machetes and pangas appear in an election campaign in this country. Let’s give away all these machetes and pangas to our scrap merchant dealers so that they can make steel out of them which can be put to better use in the efforts to develop our country.

It is not really who wins today’s by-election that matters, but the collective efforts that will arise from this. Let us try to use our multiparty elections to build a better nation.

We should be one country – one Zambia, one nation – one people, marching together in the future. Let this Kanyama by-election help us elect the best candidate for this highly troubled constituency without many services required in an organised community.

Labels: CADRES

posted by MrK @ 9:30 AM