‘DELUSIONAL RESEARCH’ – SIMUUWE SAYS
UNITED Party for National Development (UPND) media director Mark Simuuwe says it is delusional for Tonse/Pamodzi Alliance to suggest that its presidential candidate, Brian Mundubile, has over 70 percent chance of winning next month’s election, questioning when the research was conducted and the methodology used to arrive at that percentage.
Recently, Alliance secretary-generals Celestine Mukandila and Chris Zimba indicated that their external research bureau has shown that Mr Mundubile has a 66 to 77 percent chance of winning.
Speaking in an interview, Mr Simuuwe said Mr Mukandila and Dr Zimba are deceiving Mr Mundubile, just like they did in 2021 when it was projected that the Patriotic Front (PF) was going to win
“In 2021, Chris Zimba, together with others, came up with a doctored research which suggested that PF was going to win by 70 percent, and they lost.
“Even this time around, they are deceiving Mundubile. We demand that they show us the methodology used and what the sample size was,” Mr Simuuwe said.
He said it is not possible to carry out a research survey in such a short period of time, as is the case with the Tonse/Pamodzi findings.
Mr Simuuwe described the outcome of their research as fraudulent and said it cannot be trusted
“It is good that they have gone on that trajectory because then they will be in the comfort zone. But wait for the polls. We have gone through that kind of lopsided thinking before in 2021 and hammered them, so we are waiting for citizens to make a decision, and they will be shocked.”
He said it is not possible for the opposition alliance to garner enough votes to score over 70 percent when it has not fielded candidates in various wards and constituencies across the country.
And party deputy media director Sikwindi Situla has dismissed Tonse/Pamodzi Alliance’s claims that it has a strong chance of winning next month’s general election, describing the assertions as “wishful thinking” and “child’s play”.
Mr Situla said the opposition alliance is out of touch with the political and economic realities on the ground.
He said Zambians have continued to rally behind UPND because of its programmes, which continue to benefit them.
“It is wishful thinking for the Tonse Alliance to imagine that they have a chance of winning this election. Those are assertions that are completely out of touch with reality,” Mr Situla said.