Maravi

One-man, two-man deals won't work

One-man, two-man deals won't work
By Editor
Thursday June 26, 2008 [04:00]

IT is really becoming increasingly difficult to understand or appreciate what the reconciliation between President Levy Mwanawasa and Michael Sata is all about. And Sata says it's unfortunate that some ministers don't understand the gist of his reconciliation with President Mwanawasa. They are not the only ones; many people don't seem to understand what this reconciliation is all about. Even those who thought they understood it are now starting to doubt or wonder if they really did.

Sata says his deal was not with the MMD as a party but with President Mwanawasa alone - as an individual. But he hasn't told the nation if on his part also, this is simply a deal between President Mwanawasa and himself alone - and the opposition Patriotic Front is not part of it.

If this is so, why did Sata and President Mwanawasa have the entire executive committees of their respective political parties congregate at State House to witness or be seen to be part of this reconciliation?

And if this is just a simple and personal deal between President Mwanawasa and Sata, why should anyone expect the MMD as a political party and government ministers to support it, to subordinate themselves to it?

Moreover, Sata has not been kind to MMD and government ministers since his deal with President Mwanawasa. All that Sata has been doing is to deride government ministers and MMD officials as if this was the essence of his reconciliation with President Mwanawasa. And after all this, Sata expects these same people to accept and support a deal whose only discernible purpose is their denigration!
Sata further goes on to say: "...I can count on Levy and his wife's votes in 2011 general elections although he should not count on my vote because he is not contesting."

What type of reconciliation is this? What did Sata agree with President Mwanawasa? Is Sata now insinuating that there is a deal between him and President Mwanawasa that guarantees him support from the first family in the 2011 presidential elections? If this is truly so, where does President Mwanawasa's loyalty stand with the MMD today? If this is so, why should the MMD and its government support this reconciliation, a deal that will transfer power from them to Sata and the Patriotic Front?

And is it fair for Sata to be denouncing the MMD and government officials in the name of his reconciliation with President Mwanawasa while their hands are tied and they cannot respond because of the ‘deal’ he has with their leader?

Moreover, if truly this deal is simply a personal one between Sata and President Mwanawasa, then others should not be expected to support it, to subordinate themselves to something that is just a matter of personal arrangement between their two leaders. This alone should free all others from it; MMD leaders should have no obligations towards Sata and equally, Patriotic Front leaders should not see themselves as having any deal or reconciliation with President Mwanawasa and should feel free to give him a harangue when circumstances justify it.

And this whole deal, the way Sata is explaining it, stinks of autocracy on his part and probably on Levy's part too if this is the way he also sees it. Personal deals of two party leaders should have no bearing on their political parties.

This is really not the best way to run political parties. It is not the individual leader that should matter most, but the collective - truly, this is the time to reconcile our political differences and build a progressive and prosperous Zambia, but not in an autocratic and undemocratic manner.

And like Sata, we really doubt if this reconciliation is going to work. But our reasons are different from Sata's. Sata doubts this deal because of the problem of politics of survival, which are making MMD leaders to try and blackmail President Mwanawasa because they benefit more when there is conflict or tension between the two. Yes, this cannot be dismissed as being totally untrue.

There is some truth in it. But what we think will really make this deal fail is Sata's attempt to create a wedge between President Mwanawasa and his colleagues and friends in MMD and the government. Sata is trying to make Levy look down upon his ministers and MMD officials. But he is forgetting that President Mwanawasa will not be able to continue to the end of his term if all these people turn against him today.

We don't think President Mwanawasa will be so naïve as to fail to see clearly where his bread is buttered and on whose support his presidency depends. It is not Sata who made Levy become President; it is these same people Sata is despising who made Levy President.

This being the case, which man of honour will desert all these people at the insistence of their yesterday's common opponent and still retain a measure of credibility with his people?
By stating all this, we are not saying it is wrong for Sata and President Mwanawasa to reconcile and remove conflict or tension in their dealings with each other.

All that we are trying to say is that if their reconciliation is to be meaningful, the primary requisite is to eradicate the cause of dissension between them and their supporters.

True reconciliation is to seek and accept forgiveness and not to create new problems, not to open new enmities. No true reconciliation can be established on the shifting sands of evasions, illusions and opportunism.

But things like this happen where political helplessness prevails. And where this happens, ignorance and illusions tend to flourish.

The reconciliation between Sata and President Mwanawasa will not have much meaning if it is totally limited to the two of them and is not extended to their political parties. For this reconciliation to be meaningful, it has to have the support of the entire MMD membership and leadership.

It also needs to be seen as meaningful to the leadership and supporters of the Patriotic Front. If not, one little quarrel or difference between Sata and Levy will kill it and send it to the cemetery where it will rest in peace while conflict or tension between them returns.

One-man, two-man deals won't work.

Labels: MWANAWASA, SATA

posted by MrK @ 4:30 AM