Maravi

Mangani and Kapijimpanga

Mangani and Kapijimpanga
Mon 31 Jan. 2011, 03:59 CAT

When people think only of themselves and their own particular political party or group, there is a danger of division and disunity in the nation. We need to understand what multiparty politics is really about or else we will end up using it as a device to weaken our people by setting one humble section of our population against others.

Without a clear appreciation of what multiparty politics means, we will continue to divide our people into petty political parties that bring no guidance to the nation. We will be dividing the ignorant and misleading people into factions supporting unscrupulous and greedy politicians.

Multiparty politics is not about division, disunity and hatred in the nation. It is about unity in diversity; it is about competition to serve and not a fight for survival. And in conformity with our belief in the unity of our people, we should not pay exaggerated attention to accidental differences within our multiparty political dispensation. Why should one hate his brother or sister, his neighbour simply because he or she belongs to a different political party? Why shouldn’t two people who belong to different political parties be friends?

Why can’t they share a meal or meet for a drink and discuss politics or other issues of mutual concern? It is not hatred alone which is contrary to the laws of charity but also indifference to the welfare of our neighbour. We have to treat everybody irrespective of their political affiliation as our fellow citizens, as our neighbours; “For you are all one in Jesus Christ” (Galatians 3:28).

We all need to work together regardless of our political ideas and affiliations. We have one country to live in and develop. We are one country, one nation, one people who are supposed to be marching together into the future. It is not the individuals that matter, but the collective. This is the time to come together and develop our country.

We don’t need to belong to one political party just as religious people don’t need to belong to one church, congregation or denomination. It should be the desire of our people to live their lives with dignity and self-respect that should drive our politicians' decisions and actions.

As we have stated before, this country will not be good for any of us to live in if it is not good for all of us to live in. Our politics should not be about hatred but love. No one can develop this country of ours – a country of more than 755,000 square kilometers with not less than 73 tribes – on hatred, on disunity based on political affiliations. Our people should not vote for anyone whose heart is full of hatred but for one who is best qualified to bring about the kind of Zambia they hope to live in.

Multiparty politics is about working with others who belong to different political parties. And to work with one’s political competitor, one must talk to him or dialogue with him so that he becomes one’s partner. Most of us are Zambians by nature and we belong to our political parties by choice. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion.

Let us try in a new time and in a new way to restore the politics of love in our country. Let us teach ourselves and others that politics should be an expression of a desire to contribute to the happiness of a community rather than of a need to divide people into hostile and irreconcilable groups. Let the winners of elections in our country be the best of us, in the moral, civic, and political sense, regardless of their political affiliations.

We are all free human beings, Zambians, and those in politics, public servants, and members of their political parties, in that order. This being the case, why shouldn’t politicians from different political parties talk to each other, keep each other’s company, eat and drink with one another?

Our politicians should learn to put the unity of our people first. They should put it ahead of any divisive partisanship. And in these times, as in times before, it is true that a house divided against itself by the spirit of faction, of political party, of tribe, of region, of religion, of race, is a house that cannot stand. So, we ask all our politicians, whatever their personal interests or concern, to guard against divisiveness and all its ugly consequences. We must always be mindful of this one thing, whatever the trials and the tests ahead.

We say this because the ultimate strength of our country will always lie in our unity, and unity in diversity for that matter, unity across our different political parties and individual politicians.

Given what we have said, why should someone be so worried about Lameck Mangani and Judith Kapijimpanga having a meal or a drink together at some hotel in broad daylight simply because the two belong to different political parties?

In a multiparty political system, in a plural political system, we live with the conviction that through open exchange of ideas and opinions, truth will eventually win out over falsehood, the values of others will be better understood, areas of compromise more clearly defined, the path of progress opened. And the greater the volume of such exchanges, the better.

We need more meetings of that nature among our politicians. And such meetings should not be restricted by political parties in any way. Moreover, in a multiparty political dispensation, there is need for a loyal position. And this means, in essence, that all sides in a multiparty political system share a common commitment to its basic values. Political competitors don’t necessarily have to like each other, but they must learn to live, interact and work with each other and acknowledge that each has a legitimate and important role to play.

And no matter who wins an election, both sides have to agree to co-operate in solving the common problems of society. We say this because in a multiparty dispensation worth the name, the opposition continues to participate in public life with the knowledge that its role is essential. The opposition is loyal not to the specific policies of government, but to the fundamental legitimacy of the state, and to the multiparty political process itself.

By talking to each other, by sharing a meal or a drink with each other, politicians with differences learn how to argue peaceably, how to pursue their goals in a friendly manner and ultimately, how to live in a world of political diversity.

Our politicians should learn to pay attention to uniting and working with other citizens who differ with them. They have come together from every corner of the country and should be good at uniting in their work not only with those who hold the same views as them but also with those who hold different views. It is imperative to overcome anything that impairs this co-operation among our politicians and their political parties.

Clearly, there is nothing wrong Lameck did for him to be nailed to the cross. In trying to fix Lameck, the MMD leadership will just cause more problems for itself.

Labels: JUDITH KAPIJIMPANGA, LAMECK MANGANI, MMD, PF-UPND

posted by MrK @ 4:54 PM