OPP POSTMORTEM: MUSHIMBA SAYS OPPOSITION UNITY FAILURE COST THEM ELECTION
Organized People’s Party (OPP) president Brian Mushimba says the failure by opposition parties to unite was one of the major factors that contributed to the opposition losing the election.
Dr Mushimba said the party’s ongoing postmortem had involved an honest assessment of the assumptions, missed opportunities and decisions that shaped its campaign and eventual electoral performance.
He said the OPP was originally established as a special-purpose vehicle for the opposition and had engaged almost all opposition players because it believed unity was essential to defeating the UPND.
“The environment was ready for the UPND to lose,” Dr Mushimba said, adding that the opposition had ultimately “snatched defeat from the jaws of victory.”
He said the OPP decided to contest the election independently after efforts to achieve opposition unity failed, relying on its seed funding, ideas, supporters and funders.
According to Dr Mushimba, another strategy considered by opposition leaders was for multiple opposition candidates to file nominations amid uncertainty over possible disqualifications, with the expectation that the opposition field could eventually narrow through mutual endorsements.
“Then, at the last minute, there were conversations among opposition leaders about the possibility of the UPND government reacting to multiple opposition candidates filing. The thinking was that as many opposition candidates as possible should file because, through IMINGALATO, we did not know who might be disqualified. The assumption was that if many of us filed, surely not all of us could be disqualified,” he stated.
“The idea was that, at some point, the opposition space could shrink and we could begin endorsing one another. But once again, that never came to pass. That is another issue we are examining in the postmortem.”
However, he said that strategy also failed to materialise.
Dr Mushimba said the OPP campaign was further undermined by the withdrawal of its running mate, Andyford Banda, barely two weeks after joining the presidential ticket.
He said the party had assumed it would be possible to replace a running mate at short notice, but Banda’s withdrawal resulted in the presidential ticket technically being disqualified.
“Our original running mate was unable to continue at the last minute,” he said.
Dr Mushimba said the development caused funding to dry up and forced the party to cancel planned rallies and scale back campaign activities, particularly while the matter was before the courts.
He said the party had also assumed that the UPND had lost significant support since 2021, based on dissatisfaction over the cost of living and other concerns.
“We genuinely saw a winning path,” he said, but acknowledged that “some of those assumptions proved wrong.”
Dr Mushimba said the party nevertheless continued travelling, appearing on radio programmes and engaging citizens to understand their concerns.
Reflecting on his relationship with Banda, he said the two had limited prior interaction and discovered significant differences soon after beginning discussions about working together.
“The political marriage lasted barely two weeks,” he said.
Dr Mushimba said the experience formed an important part of the OPP’s postmortem, which he said would help the party determine its future direction and contribute to broader lessons for the opposition movement.