Maravi

MMD has contributed to the decline of democracy - Bbala

MMD has contributed to the decline of democracy - Bbala
By Roy Habaalu
Thu 13 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT

DEMOCRACY has been elusive to the Zambian people during the MMD’s rule, says a UNZA lecturer. In an interview yesterday, Phineas Bbala, a lecturer in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences in the department of political and administrative studies, said what was happening in Zambia was a bad replica of real democracy.

Bbala said the MMD had contributed to the decline of democracy because anyone with divergent views was its enemy. He said people should not expect strong democracy in a country where there was a weak judiciary.

“The ruling party has remained predatory and everyone else has been reduced to a prey,” he said.
Bbala said if people didn’t support the MMD, they risked losing all they worked for, including jobs. He said some people wanted to short circuit the acquisition of wealth and livelihood by clinging to the MMD.

Bbala said the kind of democracy obtaining at the moment was that of window dressing where the MMD wanted to show the outside world that they were upholding it. He said most political players and institutions of governance had not internalised democracy.

Bbala said the current conflicts in the recent MMD provincial conferences were as a result of people fighting for resources and being close to the President and ministers. He said most of the defections from the opposition to the ruling party were as a result of the desire to acquire wealth, which had caused instability in the party.

Bbala said as the elections drew near, more people would defect to the MMD in search of a livelihood because of the high poverty levels and political immorality.

“There are poor people who still uphold their integrity and promote democracy and political views of our country,” he said.

Bbala said Zambia’s democracy in the last 20 years of MMD’s rule had not been different from the one party state.

“That’s how exactly UNIP used to operate. If you don’t support them you lose your house. But when you join them, all is well.” said Bbala.

Labels: DEMOCRACY, MMD, PHINEAS BBAALA

posted by MrK @ 8:45 AM