Zambia
government and Patriotic Front officials
through postings on his Facebook page.

LOOKING FORWARD TO 2018
The year 2018 seems gloomy as wrangles
within the ruling party appear to deepen
with continued fallout of key party officials
who held ministerial positions. Levels of intolerance to dissenting views also seem high
among political party supporters. However,
political parties and security wings are paying heed to calls to address violence among
their party supporters and for police to curb
the harassment. This presents an opportunity
in 2018 for MISA Zambia and other media
advocates to intensify calls to uphold freedom of expression and media freedom.
Further the open rebuke by Vice President,
Inonge Wina of her political party supporters
for harassing an opposition Member of Parliament at a State function is a strong point,
MISA Zambia wishes to leverage this commitment by engaging political players like
the Vice President in resolving conflict and
disciplining their supporters.
However, the deepening economic woes of
state owned media - Times of Zambia, Zambia Daily Mail and Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) casts a dark
shadow for 2018. It is critical for the media to
build their capacity to stay afloat and for the
State to allow them to operate as commercial
entities. With the continued empty promises
on ATI, 2018 may not be so different. However, continued engagement and advocacy
will continue.

So This is Democracy? 2017

127

Select target paragraph3