Strange political bedfellows and political maturity

When former prime minister Edward Lowassa crossed a political Rubicon in 2015 by decamping to the opposition Chadema, though expected after his political ambitions were thwarted within the ruling party CCM, it still shocked many and political opponents of the new allies could not stomach the idea of former bitter political rivals being thrown on the same side by strange political circumstances.

It caused such a strange political atmosphere it is difficult to put to words. Some who wanted to see CCM defeated found themselves at crossroads and struggled between choosing whether to bite the political bullet Chadema had shot at them or dodge that bullet altogether.

Lowassa continues to cast a long shadow in his former party. Political allies could not stomach such political reality. The political consequences of his decision are felt to this day.

Strangely, it came to be viewed as CCM cleaning up its house while the opposition was getting muddier.

A long history of strange political alliances in one of our neighbours, Kenya, did not help voters comprehend that in politics enemies, friends or allies are products of interests which once they change so does the political relationship. That we had seen former president Daniel arap Moi and Raila Odinga tyrn into political allies after decades of enmity between them and then turned into political enemies again was seen as nothing more than Kenya’s “tribal” politics.

That William Ruto and Odinga turned into political enemies or that Uhuru Kenyatta and Ruto tuned into political allies who went on to capture state power did not inspire enough of the political daredevil spirit in us to defeat a long ruling party.

And now Kenyatta and Odinga are political allies of some sort.

Then Malaysia 2018 happened making 2015 seem like child’s play.

The political alliance between bitter old rivals of Malaysian politics, has been described as one of “extraordinary twists and turns” because the current prime minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the newly freed Anwar Ibrahim have been allies, served together in government and then Mahathir jailed his former deputy for nearly a decade and picked another protégé in the former prime minister Najib Razak until they fell out with Mahathir accusing his protégé of being too corrupt and joined the opposition led by Anwar Ibrahim who was jailed this time by Mr Najib for the same charges as before.

Dr Mahathir promised a royal pardon for Anwar, which has been granted and has promised to retire again after a few years in favor of Mr Anwar. It has taken huge sacrifices from both sides to be on the same political side.

Some of the young people who voted for his opposition-led coalition ending decades of the same party rule said they saw Dr Mahathir as a “grandfather who cannot steal given his age”.

Clearly they have not heard of the leaders in some African countries accused of virtually emptying their state coffers despite their advanced age.

The new political allies in Malaysia seen from where we stand make the 2015 developments necessary in the journey for political maturity for the country.

The country is still learning how to treat those who once occupied positions of power and influence who are today in opposition. Augustine Mrema was a political heavyweight during his days but clearly not in the class of Edward Lowassa.

Despite encounters with law enforcers, Lowassa’s and Fredrick Sumaye’s treatment is clearly different from the rest of the opposition figures.

But it is still work in progress.

Lowassa’s defection regardless of his motives has paved the way for future defectors, and one has to see the lengths to which CCM go through to encourage defections from the opposition.

With endless talks of Zitto Kabwe and his former allies in Chadema doing a political deal of dome sorts at some point in time, surely it will come a time when such strange political bedfellows will be the norm of our politics too.

Strange political bedfellows are a measure of a country’s willingness to stomach political freedoms and comprehend alternative political realities.

We are still learning.