Every election season eventually reaches a point where opposition parties begin speaking loudly about unity. Zambia appears to have reached that moment again.
The latest exchange involving Fred M’membe and Brian Mundubile exposed just how fragile those discussions remain. Dr M’membe rejected Mundubile’s public invitation for opposition cooperation, arguing that serious alliance-building cannot be conducted through media pronouncements.
His response quickly revealed the deeper mistrust sitting beneath repeated calls for coalition politics. On the surface, almost every opposition figure agrees that fragmentation could hand an advantage to the ruling United Party for National Development. In practice, disagreements over leadership, ideology, control and political strategy continue spilling into public view.
That is increasingly becoming one of the opposition’s biggest political weaknesses. The timing is equally significant. The Electoral Commission of Zambia has already revised nomination fees upward ahead of the elections, campaign preparations are intensifying and political temperatures are rising across the country.
At the same time, governance activist Rueben Lifuka has warned that election legitimacy will depend on whether all political players are given equal campaign opportunities. Political commentator Mulenga Kapwepwe has also cautioned that opposition fragmentation risks creating a chaotic political environment.
Meanwhile, Robert Sichinga says many citizens who may want political change remain unconvinced about who should replace President Hakainde Hichilema.
Those remarks all point to the same unresolved issue. The opposition agrees that cooperation is necessary, but it remains divided over who should lead, who should surrender political space and what form any alliance should ultimately take.
For the ruling UPND, those divisions provide breathing room. For opposition supporters, the repeated public disagreements are becoming increasingly frustrating because every failed unity conversation deepens perceptions that coalition politics could once again collapse before election day.
The pressure is building quickly. Once nominations close and campaigns fully intensify, the room for meaningful alliance-building could narrow sharply.