FORMER Defence Minister George Mpombo says the ruling Patriotic Front’s politics of attacks, revenge and outbursts risk plunging the country into a serious modicum of political brouhaha,

And Mpombo says those being persecuted by the PF regime should never tire but persevere as they will soon triumph after the August 12 elections.

In an interview, Mpombo said the monstrous treatment of political opponents by the PF was a tragic leadership failure that needed to be uprooted.

“The PF regime have embraced politics of attacks, revenge and outbursts which risk plunging the country into a serious modicum of political brouhaha. Tolerance of divergent political views is the bedrock of constitutional democracy; subjecting your perceived enemies to horrendous and monstrous political treatment is a tragic leadership failure,” Mpombo said. “It will all end one day as nothing lasts forever and after elections, you will triumph. Those being persecuted should develop a backbone of steel and not succumb to naked acts of intimidation. They should soldier on. The moribund SADC organ on politics should take particular interest in these barrages of intimidatory acts by the government, which are a serious threat to democracy and peace.”

He said it was sad that a number of opposition party leaders were being arrested and charged with various offences simply for trying to mobilise ahead of the elections.

“It’s therefore uncontestably true that if these acts of negative shenanigans continue creating political havoc and creating high-wire political tensions in the nation, the amount of political kerfuffle and mayhem that would descend on the nation would be too ghastly to contemplate. Lately, we have seen that the state has been intolerant to those who are opposing the views of the government. A number of opposition leaders have been arrested and charged with various offences,” said Mpombo. “This is witch hunting and persecution. With the pageant of deliberate and well calculated vicious political persecutions that have been taking place lately in the country, Zambia is on the cusp of entering a season of political darkness reminiscent of the second republic which was during the Chiluba era, making a country that was once a beacon of political stability, peace and shining democratic values, a laughing stock in the comity of nations.”