A MUST READ: WHY UPND WILL NOT WIN THIS ELECTION
A Viewpoint of the CANDIDATES Editor
We have persistently stated that, the fact that majority Zambians are hungry and angry does not automatically mean that every person who detests the corrupt Patriotic Front (PF) administration supports the United Party for National Development (UPND).
Of course, there are many people who have not yet decided who they will vote for in these elections. The number of undecided voters – most of whom have been lost by the PF – are up for grabs by any of the 16 Presidential candidates there are in these elections.
Zambians are struggling to make ends meet but Zambians have not entirely identified UPND as their hope for a better society. The PF knows this and that is why, they are busy doing everything possible to ensure that they tap into the undecided voters bloc more than other parties can.
The Candidates editor has friends in PF. These people are admitting everyday that things are not on their side. But while this is true, the PF has assembled a very good political machinery to deliver victory by hook or crook. We do not agree with PF on many things but as we fault them, we have no right to pay a blind eye to their potency where electioneering is concerned. These crooks are damn good at staying afloat in these elections.
The UPND, once again, as the main opposition party is currently baking in the abundance of their arrogance and overconfidence which has often times than not, led them to cry that the election has been stolen. It is foolish to always claim the election is being stolen from you, but you cannot do anything about it repeatedly.
UPND knows that PF is not going down without both a clean and dirty fight. As such, what are they doing about it? We may not be privy to mechanisms put in place by the UPND to counter vote manipulations but we have enough eyes to tell that they are lagging in terms of strategy and effective galvanising of the necessary support from the pool of angry people.
This party is composed mainly with people who are currently occupied sharing positions once they win power. These elements are busy proving to each other about who is more close to Hakainde Hichilema than the other. You need not look too far to see that UPND has no aggressive drive to take a front role in attracting the critical attention of Zambians. Just a small conversation with most of those elements in the waist of Hakainde tells more about who they are.
First, they have inflated ego and a sense of self importance. They are elements who feel very important and think banafika just because they talk to Hakainde on a daily basis. While they are in this worthless zone of portraying self importance, the PF are open to advice and are good at listening. You can tell someone in PF about their weakness and if it is valid, they will go back to the drawing board and work on their shortcomings.
You dare tell UPND members about their weakness, their minions shower you with all sorts of insults and call you a PF surrogate. But when you look at The Candidates, it has been more lenient on UPND than PF. It is this intolerance of these elements that make people question what kind of people they will be if given power.
UPND lacks a very well defined strategy to win these elections. They cannot foolishly expect to win the election by riding on the fact that Zambians are angry. The same angry Zambians are looking for a voice. That critical voice is not coming from UPND but seems to be coming from parties like Socialist, Democratic Party and People’s Alliance for Change.
This is not to say these parties have also established well defined strategies to counter the PF. This is to show that UPND is actually behind in terms of strategy and effectiveness at the moment.
With this said, how can such a party win elections? How can they manage to even prevent rigging if they can’t mount a simple aggressive campaign in the same manner the PF are doing it?