ZAMBIA’S undisputed mother of democracy, the MMD is again back in the news a few months before the presidential and general elections.
The party which prides itself on having re-introduced multi-partism after it assumed office in 1991 has never known internal peace from the time it lost elections to the Patriotic Front in 2011.
Through internal wrangles the leadership of the party has swung from one grouping to the other amidst court rulings.
It all appeared that the dust may settle after a recent court ruling that the Nevers Mumba New Hope MMD was the legitimate leadership of the party and not the Felix Mutati faction.
Just four months before the elections the MMD is back in the courts, with one faction claiming that last Saturday’s convention held by the Nevers Mumba faction was illegal and should be declared null and void because of an injunction that was obtained prior to the event.
It is such intra-party wrangles that make some political parties irrelevant to the political dispensation because they lose the people’s confidence at the time that it matters most.
This scenario does not only affect the MMD but the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has also been engulfed in the same intra-party wrangles which are costly at the time that the electorate will exercise their right to vote for a party of their choice.
Right now the NDC is split into two with president Chishimba Kambwili pulling on one side and his vice Josephs Akafumba pulling on the other leaving supporters in quandary on who to follow.
NDC is a new party and does not deserve such internal wrangles which may make it ‘one of those political parties’.
And the Foundation for Democratic Process (FODEP) is very right when it says some opposition political parties are weakening because of being embroiled in leadership wrangles.
FODEP president Mwenda Mumbuna says it is his institution’s desire to see a number of political parties to enable the electorate have a variety to choose from during elections and for them to offer checks and balances to the Government.
Mr Mumbuna says FODEP was concerned about the current situation where only two political parties, in apparent reference to PF and UPND  seem to be dominant.
In the interest of multi-party politics may leaders learn to co-exist so that democracy can prevail for the benefit of the electorate because as things stand MMD may end up watching elections from the terraces.