Ban ‘chiefdom’ political parties abrogating Article 60 – MMD Diehards

The MMD Diehards have observed that a number of political parties are operating outside the Constitutional provisions which provides for regular intra-party elections.

In a statement seemingly directed at United Party for National Development (UPND) and Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) who have not held conventions for over 10 years, Gerald Chiluba, the Diehard National Coordinator said some political party leaders have turned their parties into Chiefdoms where positions can only change when there is death.

Chiluba, a former Copperbelt University Students Union president, said relevant authorities must ensure that parties abrogating the Constitution are banned from participating in future elections until such a time that they abide by the constitutional provisions saying the illegalities should not be allowed to continue.

“As MMD Die Hard we want to urge the Registrar of Societies to do an assessment of all political parties in order to establish whether their operating in accordance with the constitutional provisions of holding intra-party elections. It is very unfortunate that most political parties have been turned into chiefdoms were a president can only be replaced after death and presidents are now referred to as Kings.

“As of today there are only three political parties which should be allowed to fully participate in our democratic dispensation and these are; MMD, PF and Narendra. By Law these are the only legitimate political parties the rest are operating illegally and we as a country cannot allow these illegalities to continue,” he said.

Chiluba who recently graduated from Copperbelt University explained that his party being the mother of Democracy would like to see the country’s multiparty democracy  flourish but that that can only happen if political parties followed the rules without exception.

He urged the Registrar of Societies to be the gate keepers of the country’s democracy by enforcing the law.

“The Registrar of Societies should help in growing our democracy by ensuring that political parties are following the laid down guidelines under Article 60 of our Republican Constitution as it is important to note that opposition political parties are governments in waiting therefore they need to conduct themselves in a democratic manner otherwise the nation risks giving power to a dictatorial party.

“Being a mother of democracy we are convinced beyond reasonable doubt that  if no serious action is taken the country might derail from it’s successful  democratic path. Therefore as a youth wing we are going to petition the Registrar of Societies to ban all political parties abrogating Article 60 from participating in the 2021 elections in order to allow our democracy to continue flourishing,” he said.

With the exception of MMD, NAREP and the ruling PF political parties in the country have not held intra-party elections. The FDD had announced that they would go for a convention in 2017 but have gone mute on their pronouncement while the UPND has in recent times made mention of their plans to hold a convention but have not put a specific year in which they will hold one.