It’s clear that come what may, Edgar Lungu is determined to have a third term of office.
It’s now easy to understand why Edgar openly and viciously, and without restraint, attacked the Constitutional Court judges whom he believed were going to rule against his third term of office. When it comes to his hold on power, Edgar completely forgets that the exercise of power must be a constant practice of self-limitation and modesty.
How can Edgar publicly declare that the election campaigns for 2021 have started before the Constitutional Court judges make their decision known on his eligibility to contest? Probably he has been assured the judgment will go his way. How can they start spending so much money on campaign materials bearing Edgar’s face and name before the Constitutional Court delivers its decision? Why this impatience? Edgar’s conduct will totally undermine the credibility of the Constitutional Court’s decision if it goes his way.
The way Edgar is trying to remain in power is frightening! He is behaving like a hungry dog on a bone. And where is the Law Association of Zambia? Why are they not coming out to condemn this conduct of Edgar that more than the many things they issue condemnations on deeply undermines the credibility and independence of the Constitutional Court and the entire judiciary?
Edgar’s conduct validates the saying that the universe runs on the principle that one who can exert the most evil on other creatures runs the show. Issues of morality, justice and good sense are of no interest to the power hungry like Edgar. In their politics, what you see is not what you get.
Can anyone Edgar hold on to power without being crooked, manipulative or even lawless? Oh, it looks to us like living without breathing. Morality apart, we think some evils are part and parcel of the nature of such people and they cannot do without them. Sometimes, evil is even necessary to run this evil nature.
But in all this, Edgar is making one very big mistake: ignoring the feelings of the people who put him in power. They say once you are in power, never forget those who put you there. Deal with those who think they can do better than you and those who think you are God’s representative on earth. Deal with each other according to his actions.
But again, some have claimed the earth as their own and usurped power from the rest of us. But they are usurpers; power belongs to every one of us. It is said that nothing is sweeter and addictive than power, the unlucky soul this demon possesses, if he is not sacrificed on its altar, it will sacrifice others himself to get it.
It’s unfortunate to be bitten by unbridled desire to hold on to power come what may. This deadly disease causes one to want to hold on to power by all means either by sacrificing others to its altar or by sacrificing himself when he fails. Sir Kristian Goldmund Aumann said, “Self-aggrandizement and lust for power, the maelstrom of baser instincts – disfigured people.”
If we are moral then why do they need to be ruled by a person like Edgar who is power hungry and probably not quite so good? And an evil person like Edgar wants two things: he wants something for nothing, and to escape the consequences of his actions.
Plato wrote, “There will be no end to the troubles of states, or of humanity itself, till philosophers become kings in this world, or till those we now call kings and rulers really and truly become philosophers, and political power and philosophy thus come into the same hands.”
Edgar’s final objective toward which all his deceit is directed is to retain political power so that, using the power of the state, he can continue to make himself and his minions rich.
The Mast Editorial
Read this article from the original source: Mast Editorial: What Will Lungu Not Do To Remain President?.