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Zambia: Ruling Party Message Timely
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The Times of Zambia (Ndola)
EDITORIAL
12 May 2008
Posted to the web 12 May 2008
THERE is much import in the words of MMD chairman for commerce and industry, Sebastian Kopulande when he officiated at the cards renewal exercise in Kabwe at the weekend.
Addressing party members at Hindu Hall, Mr Kopulande advised that the ruling party needs to be vigilant for it to remain relevant to the country's democracy. This message is not only for MMD members in Kabwe but for those throughout the country.
Mr Kopulande's advice is timely. There is a tendency for members of the ruling party to become complacent. The ruling MMD is in its second decade in power, and is fast approaching the record held by the United National Independence Party.
With such a long period at the helm of the Republic, party members could be lured into a false sense of invincibility at the polls, which could prove to be costly.
The other danger is that when a party has been in government for a long time, its members spend more time jostling to get to the helm than fine-tuning policies that made their party electable in the first place.
Or worse still, party leaders could simply lose touch with the yearnings of their grassroots members. Mr Kopulande already noted something in this regard. He said the party needed to market itself more effectively at the grassroots.
This detachment from the grassroots can happen even to best parties.
Mr Kopulande's words need to be taken seriously. He said that the MMD needed to re-examine itself and its activities and strategies so that it could operate with renewed vigour.
One of the ways of doing this is what Mr Kopulande suggested when he said that party members should become active at the grassroots or community level.
He was also right in observing that the MMD could be credited with the current greater political and economic freedoms currently enjoyed by Zambians.
It is now entirely up to MMD members to convince fellow Zambians that this is the party that can still carry their aspirations for even greater political and social freedoms, and also the desire for greater economic empowerment.
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Time to heed Mr Kopulande's advice is now. This advice is in line with President Mwanawasa's repeated observation that members of his party should be going out to explain party's policies to people in their communities instead of sitting in offices.
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| Copyright © 2008 The Times of Zambia. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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