By Diamone Siulapwa
……..at stake, for both parties is the heart of their political party’s life, a loss for PF will no doubt mean the end of PF as a party and they will quickly go into extinction while a loss for UPND will mean the people have lost interest and it will even be more clear that, most people who voted for UPND where more interested in removing PF than voting UPND into power.
ECZ Having set the by-election for Kabwata constituency for January 20th, the opposition Patriotic Front hopes to put up a spirited fight for political survival using any means possible to prove to Zambians that they are still relevant, mind you; they are still loaded to the brim.
On the other hand, HH’s UPND will now stand the test of time, as to whether the support and revolutionary vote that ushered them into power is still in their favor.
At stake, for both parties is the heart of their political party’s life, a loss for PF will no doubt mean the end of PF as a party and they will quickly go into extinction
A loss for UPND will mean the people have lost interest and it will even be more clear that, most people who voted for UPND where more interested in removing PF than voting UPND into power.
But election opinion polls on the ground are different, as things currently stand in Kabwata constituency, both the UPND and the PF might be casualties to any formidable independent that will stand.
The reality of the matter is that Zambians have already made up their minds. The high cost and unpredictable cost of living brought about by PF and its runaway inflation, unemployment and unchecked corruption are still on Zambian minds, so PF MAY not stand a chance and on the other hand, the work and direction policy of UPND in the last 100 days will speak for itself on 20th of January, what will it be?
Added to these predicaments, each political party has a short space of time to convince its supporters to go and vote on January 20th. It is also anticipated that many registered voters are likely to stay away due to various reasons and the turnout is estimated to be below 40%.
While anything is possible, it will be naïve for UPND to underestimate PF. PF still has very strong grassroots numbers and mobilization teams in Kabwata constituency. UPND on the other hand may enjoy a bit of a sympathy vote, which may not be enough to score a win without massive grassroots mobilization.
For the record, the results for the last elections (top three) in August which had a turnout of 71% were as follows: UPND’s levy Mkandawire (late) 38,665 votes translating to 51.59%, PF’s Danny Yenga 31,675, translating to 41.99% and SP’s Mundia Mukubesa got 4,503, translating to 5.91%.
