WE feel the call for a convention by some members of the MMD before elections this year is welcome.
We say this after observing that many opposition political parties in Zambia rarely go to a convention to discuss party issues.
The former ruling party, which was pivotal in this country’s reversion to plural politics, is leading the way to call for a convention.
It is also heartening to note that the members who are calling themselves founding fathers, through their representative Anito Muma, want to revisit the party’s founding principles that were mooted at the historic Garden House meeting in 1991.
This is commendable since, among other issues, the proponents of the convention will address noble tenets like people’s participation, which is an inalienable right in social, economic and political affairs.
The members are also emphasising that there could be no development without democracy and no democracy without development.
We agree with Mr Muma, who has observed that after losing the 2011 presidential election, MMD was mortally divided as evidenced by the party leaders and members that opted to go and make alliances or join other small political parties in acts of desperation and panic.
With the 1,000 members requirement clause in place, Zambian multipartism is in disarray and calls for the two formidable remaining opposition parties, the MMD and Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD), to form an alliance with the ruling Patriotic Front (PF).
With this alliance, the two parties have more to gain than lose since they will be sowing on fertile ground because of PF’s national popularity.
MMD, the party which was initially created as a pressure group to specifically campaign for the re-introduction of multiparty politics in Zambia, needs to put its house in order to organise its grassroots membership.
Without grassroot support, no political party should boast of being popular since it is the masses who determine the strength of a party.
It is also good to note that the MMD convention will coincide with the silver anniversary since the party was conceived on July 20, 1990 at a meeting at Garden House Hotel in Lusaka as a loose alliance of several civil society organisations.
Whether we like it or not, the Garden House Hotel meeting, which included various groups such as the trade union movement, academics, professional bodies and individuals who had held posts under the United National Independence Party (UNIP) government, was a landmark in the political history of this country.
Thus a convention by the second party to rule Zambia is welcome since it creates an atmosphere for a viable alliance with the ruling PF.
Before the 1,000 supporters requirement many parties that were calling for an alliance with the PF have no grassroot support to benefit the ruling party.
Now, the requirement automatically sieved off opposition parties that have no national following leaving the MMD and FDD, that is excluding the United Party for National Development (UPND).
As the clock ticks toward the D-day in August, it is important for the two opposition parties to put their houses in order and see how they can benefit from the ruling party.