UPND MUST BEWARE OF THOSE DEFECTORS
WHY didn’t they defect when the United Party for Nation al Development (UPND) was in the opposition? This is the million dollar question bog gling the minds of watchers of the country’s politics as the fledgling new dawn gov ernment struggles to take full control of state machin ery and governance systems while welcoming defectors from the opposition.
The Patriotic Front (PF) does not have any problem with its members defecting to other parties because it is their democratic right under the Constitution.
However, it is important for the UPND to be careful with the people it is receiving as defectors. It is difficult to know the true motive of the defectors.
The PF is aware of a few members and officials who may defect.
These defections, which are being choreographed at the UPND secretariat in Lu saka, could be a sign that the party is under pressure ema nating from the growing pub lic anger at its failure to adhere to the unrealistic promises it made during the campaigns for the August 12, 2021 tripar tite elections.
Or is the UPND so scared of the PF in opposition that it has resorted to desperate activities aimed at weakening it and, if possible, sending it into oblivion? That will not happen.
In the aftermath of the elections that ushered the UPND in government many Zambians expected mass de fections of members of the PF to the new ruling party.
However, Zambians are amused that more than three months on there has not been the much anticipated exodus, and this seems to scare the ruling party.
Of course, there have been a few mostly low-profile de fections. Since the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) declared Mr Hakainde Hichi lema as the winner of the pres idential vote some members of the PF have announced that they had resigned from the party to join the new rul ing party. And there has been jubilation in the UPND camp.
Surprisingly, some of these celebrated “defectors” are now openly participating in the debates on the affairs and future of the opposition party. Doesn’t that give the UPND a hint?
There are a number of fac tors that are influencing the defections. One of them is the fear of retribution from over-excited ruling party cad res and politically motivated harassment by state agents.
Some are defecting be cause they have smelt the cof fee in the kitchen. “It’s time to eat with the new government,” they are saying. Yet, some are crossing because they don’t want to be associated with the vanquished.
Most of the defectors are “mosquito weights” whose departure has no effect on the structural and operational integrity of the vastly experi enced PF. It is actually risky for the UPND to receive those people.
What yardstick will it use to detect those with ill-motives and the genuine ones? Some of those people have been habitual, “professional” de fectors. That is how they have been surviving.
What guarantee is there that they will not defect back to the PF when they see that the UPND Titanic is sinking?
Some of those defectors could be spies and mercenar ies who may have been as signed to infiltrate the ruling party and weaken it before the 2026 general elections.
The PF has told its mem bers that they are free to de fect to the UPND and become its trusted moles providing vital intelligence on the ruling party. In 2026, as the nation prepares for the next gener al elections, they are free to come back.
Then there is the issue of trust. If those people can jump ship simply because the party they supported has lost what makes the UPND believe that they will stay to mourn with it when it loses in 2026?
In fact, for the PF most of the defectors are good rid dance. Let them take their dis honesty, disloyalty and greed to the party that celebrates those vices as virtues.
The fact that the nation has not seen the mass defections witnessed in the past gener al elections since reverting to multiparty politics in 1991 should be enough warning to the UPND that the PF is too strong to be shaken by these defections.
Needless to say defections after a major election are not new. They started even before the first vote was cast in 1991. The nation saw people ditch UNIP to join the MMD, an in fant mass movement. When the MMD lost power in 2011 the “ritual” continued.
So as the defectors cross to the UPND, and as the ruling party welcomes them let both reflect on these issues seriously.