Put your house in order, MMD told

Tue, 27 Nov 2012 07:51:12 +0000

THE MMD leadership has been urged to put its house in order if it wants to remain relevant to the people of Zambia says Southern African Centre for the Constructive Resolution of Disputes (SACCORD) information officer Obby Chibuluma.

Mr Chibuluma said the MMD should strive hard to inspire its membership by remaining strong to offer credible checks and balances to the ruling Patriotic Front (PF) government.

He told the Daily Nation that the persistent leadership wrangling in the MMD was a source of concern and needed urgent intervention from its leadership in order to remain relevant.

Mr. Chibiluma said that the MMD leadership must be able to know and realize that it carries the aspiration of many members who still felt that the party was viable and could contribute positively to the growth of democracy in the nation.

He said that the MMD should firstly deal with indiscipline members in the party in order to remain with genuine members who believed in the ideology and mission of the party.

“There are clear levels of indiscipline in the MMD and it is important that if they want to survive they should deal with indisciplined members and remain with genuine ones. It is also important that the leadership takes action instead of watching the problems grow,” he said.

He said it was normal especially for a former ruling party after being hounded out of power to face such problems but there should always be solutions to whatever misfortunes being faced.

He cited UNIP’s political misfortune that led to its downfall saying that party leadership should be able to identify critical areas of governance in order to make democracy sustainable.

Mr. Chibiluma said that Zambians wish was to see MMD live on and continue to play its major role of providing checks and balances, especially that it was still the largest opposition political party in the country.

Zambians were not ready to have a one party state type of government, so it was important for the MMD to realize that its members will still hold it responsible for its downfall,” he said.

The former ruling party has been engulfed in leadership squabbles with different factions emerging thereby making it difficult to offer checks and balances to the PF government.

The general membership of the MMD felt that the leadership crisis should be resolved in the soonest possible time in order for the party to remain viable in the political realms of the country.