THE outcomes of Thursday’s Pambashe and Petauke Central parliamentary by-elections provide valuable lessons for the opposition. The most important one is that unity in their ranks is crucial for the benefit of majority poor Zambians.
We now know with greater certainty that the United Party for National Development (UPND) will win next year’s general elections if the opposition fails to unite.
We believe that they should draw important lessons from the recent parliamentary by-elections. For example, the results of the Pambashe by-election showed that Justine Kapema, the candidate of the ruling UPND, polled 5,067 votes, while the opposition candidates combined got 4,845 votes, a 222-vote difference.
A single candidate would have received all the votes, increasing their chances of winning the election rather than dividing the vote.
We therefore reiterate that the opposition has an advantage in participating in these by-elections as a united front since unity gives them an opportunity to pool their financial and logistical resources in support of a single candidate.
In our view, it is challenging for any one opposition political party to cover campaign expenses in the current environment, particularly when they are up against the UPND, which has access to unlimited state financial resources and public funded logistics.
We believe that there is strength in unity for opposition political parties. It increases their chances of winning by-elections because they can get out to campaign, meet and talk with prospective voters since they have increased resources.
In our opinion, a united opposition would also be able to protect the vote both at polling stations and totalling centres from unscrupulous individuals who may wish to manipulate the results in favour of their preferred candidates.
We also believe that if the opposition were united, they would have more numbers and be less vulnerable to attacks by violent UPND cadres.
With each party in the alliance contributing manpower, it would be easier to repel violent attacks and act as a deterrent to perpetrators of violence who would think twice about raiding opposition campaign command centres and camps.
For this reason, we wholeheartedly support the call for unity among the opposition made by former President Edgar Lungu.
“Once again, I call upon our friends in the opposition – let us work together. Tonse Alliance was launched on 7th November, 2024, exactly 90 days today by parties, civil society and advocates that desired to create a united opposition front with a common goal of ensuring regime change in 2026.
“In Tonse Alliance, everyone is welcome and we look forward to receiving everyone and secure regime change next year. The political wind from most voters is blowing towards Tonse Alliance: it is the people’s movement and we want you to come on onboard.,” said Lungu.
Our opposition leaders should, in our opinion, put aside their narrow political interests and work together for the benefit of majority Zambians who are struggling to make ends meet due to the high cost of living, which is made worse by rising fuel prices and a crippling power deficit that has slowed economic growth.
We wish to remind the opposition that there can only be one leader at a time and that their primary objective should be to serve the Zambian people rather than to profit from their positions of power.
As Hellen Keller said : “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”
