THE growing fear of political competition by the ruling party poses a serious threat to Zambia’s democracy. This is what veteran politician Dr Mbita Chitala says, and we totally agree with him. His observation that state institutions are steadily shifting away from national service toward partisan service is one which cannot be dismissed. Whenever we have a new government, it starts out preaching tolerance, then gradually grows impatient with competition, criticism and even harmless dissent. When a ruling party begins to fear political competition, the first thing it does is not to win hearts and minds through performance. It starts to look for shortcuts: weaponising state institutions, using selective law enforcement, and turning national systems into party tools. That is...