WE ARE worried about the growing acrimony surrounding the by-elections being caused by defections, especially by members of Parliament from one political party to another.
This debate, if allowed to drag on, has the potential to distract the nation from other equally important issues requiring government’s attention.
The by-elections are inevitable under the current political dispensation as President Sata said in his statement on Tuesday.
Every citizen has the right to belong to an organised group of people and free to leave any time they feel like.
It is called freedom of association.
Then MPs resigning from opposition political parties to join the Patriotic Front (PF) have been giving their own reasons for making those decisions.
These are adults who do not have to get permission from anyone to respond to their conscience.
Some have cited intolerance and pettiness while others have blamed lack of visionary and inspiring leadership in their respective parties.
No defector has so far hinted they had been promised anything in return. It is therefore unfair to heap the blame at the feet of the PF and the government for this political migration.
As the President explained in his statement, the government has no choice but to fund the by-elections because that is an obligation placed on its shoulders by the current Constitution.
It is equally unfair to urge the PF to reject or chase MPs and other leaders defecting from opposition parties to join its ranks.
That would be a violation of their right to the freedom of association and a negation of the same democracy the government’s critics are purporting to be defending.
If a defector agrees with the PF’s manifesto and the programmes of its government, the ruling party does not have a basis on which to turn them away.
It is up to the opposition parties to engage in serious intra-party transformation and come up with measures that will make it attractive for their members to stay.
But many observers have pointed to the lack of a strong democratic foundation and intolerance to divergent ideas in most opposition parties.
The attacks on the PF will not solve the problem of by-elections because the party is also just a mere player in the arena of democracy.
Our people are intelligent enough to judge who has their interests at heart and who is merely using them to achieve their personal objectives.
They should be allowed to enjoy their freedom to choose the person they want to speak on their behalf in Parliament.
As long as we are stuck with the current Constitution, the defections and by-elections will not end because MPs from both the PF and opposition parties will continue to exercise their rights.
The by-elections can only be stopped through a new people-driven constitution. It is for this reason all citizens – organisations and groups – must fully support the current constitution-making process.
The proposed new Constitution has progressive articles and clauses, which will help resolve such contentious issues as by-elections if passed.
There is, therefore, no need to put pressure on the government and the PF to stop respecting certain provisions of the current Constitution to satisfy opposition parties.
It is incumbent upon the MPs to examine themselves and judge whether defecting from the political parties that sponsored them is in the best interest of the electorate.
The allegation of the government “wasting resources” on the by-elections stands on very weak legs because fulfilling a constitutional requirement cannot be described as wastage.