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Chisanga bemoans Zambia’s political situation

Chisanga bemoans Zambia’s political situation
Written by Ernest Chanda
Friday, April 03, 2009 6:45:59 PM

THERE is an atmosphere of hopelessness on the Zambian political scene, former UPND second vice-president Patrick Chisanga has said. Breaking his silence in an interview in Lusaka on Tuesday, Chisanga said the current situation had left a lot of disappointment in the minds of many voters.

"One thing that I have done in the last two years has been to interact with fellow Zambians at all levels. To interact very widely across all levels of the Zambian society: at the level of colleagues who have been active in political parties, people in other professions, young people and at the level of very ordinary Zambians," Chisanga said.

"And the picture that has emerged to me is that Zambians are generally frustrated about the direction of the country. Somehow at all levels there's a feeling that things are not going as well as they should. The expectations of the people at various levels have not been met and are not being met. One fears that actually it will get into a situation where Zambians slide in a situation of hopelessness, where they feel that there can be nothing hopeful for them to improve their lives. You begin to get that sort of feeling."

Chisanga said such an atmosphere compelled him to consider getting back into active politics.

"It is that feeling that has suggested to me that perhaps the time has not come for me to retire completely from active politics because many well-meaning ordinary Zambians have suggested when I have said that ‘look I have made my contribution, maybe it's time for me to just sit back and enjoy a quiet life with my family and friends'. And I have been told that people like myself who have had an opportunity to be exposed, to be enlightened and the sort of experience that I have accumulated, there's a feeling that it will be unpatriotic to say that [retiring from active politics]," Chisanga said.

He said he had engaged himself with other people in looking for options to the desperate political situation in the country.

"I have been, as part of my consultative process, putting heads together with a number of other Zambians, well-meaning Zambians, upright Zambians who are looking at what the options are for our country. And I cannot hide the fact that I have been actively involved in discussions in various fora, trying to reflect on what the possible options are, to give hope to Zambians, to bring cheer to the Zambian people, many of whom are very disillusioned now and frustrated about the future of this country," Chisanga said.

Asked if he was forming a political party or joining one of the existing parties, Chisanga said things were not politically that easy for him now.

"The issues are not as simple as that. I think the question of deciding to join MMD or to join PF or to join UPND or to join UNIP or any other political party, the issue is more complex than just meets the eye. Yes, joining a political party, one of the political parties is an option. Joining hands with those who feel that maybe another political party is an answer is an option," he said.

"But I have looked a little beyond that because my focus is to try and identify where the problems are, why we cannot resolve the issues based in our country. And the picture that emerged to me is that the answer does not necessarily lie in another political party. The problem we seem to have in Zambia is one of leadership. Zambia has a leadership problem, and the leadership problem cuts across all the political parties. We have seen a lot of infighting in many of the political parties, the active political parties. We have seen in many degrees a lack of intra-party democracy in many of these political parties. But I will surely be politically active before 2011."

Chisanga said this had led to many voters facing problems in choosing the right candidate at election time.

"We have seen Zambians at every election being faced with a situation where they are given a choice between candidate one two and three, and maybe Zambians want the fourth candidate who is not there. We have seen situations where at the end of every election, somebody is elected into office, but shortly after that Zambians are dissatisfied and disappointed. To me this indicates that we have a leadership drought. We need to resolve the leadership problem in Zambia," Chisanga said.

"I think Zambians many times we vote with our emotions rather than with our minds. This is why we say at the end of the day you get the leadership you deserve. Come 2011 let us elect leaders with a proven track record, leaders who do not have skeletons, whose levels of integrity are impeccable. And many Zambians are there who meet these qualities."

Chisanga was one of the founding members of the UPND in 1998 and served as the party's second vice-president until he resigned from the party and quit active politics in December 2007.

Labels: PATRICK CHISANGA, POLITICS, UPND

posted by MrK @ 5:46 PM