THERE’LL BE VOTER APATHY IF OPPOSITION DOESN’T UNITE – SP

THERE’LL BE VOTER APATHY IF OPPOSITION DOESN’T UNITE – SP

SOCIALIST Party General Secretary Dr Cosmas Musumali says there is a good chance of voter apathy if the opposition do not come out strongly.

Musumali adds that the opposition is working to ensure that Zambians vote for change, warning that the UPND government can underrate them at their own peril.

Recently, UPND Lusaka Province Chairperson Obvious Mwaliteta said the UPND would undergo an introspection if it failed to get over 2.8 million votes in this year’s general election.

In an interview, Tuesday, Dr Musumali said his party, through the People’s Pact, an opposition alliance led by SP leader Dr Fred M’membe, was doing everything possible to mobilise people ahead of the general election.

“The Socialist Party is on the ground. Its working hard [and] we are now part of the People’s Pact and we are doing everything possible to mobilise our people. The UPND will not see those targets that they are talking about, they can only underrate us at their peril because we are there and we are talking to the Zambian masses and they are the final stage. So, there is a good chance of voter apathy if the opposition political forces do not come out strongly. The 2026 elections will not be as expected. The voter turnout might be much less than in the previous general elections, but we are working to ensure that many Zambians go and vote for change and we hope we are going to achieve that momentum, then voter apathy will not be there and the UPND will not get those figures that they are planning to get,” Dr Musumali said.

“There is one big issue here, and that’s the economy. The economy is the elephant in the room and if you look at the cost of living, it has not worked for most of the Zambians. Not just the consumers, the ordinary people, but even the Zambians that are running businesses today, if you ask them how is business, they will tell you their business is bad. Government policies have not worked for Zambian businesses, it has worked more for multinational corporations and it has worked more for the President himself. So, he has created a policy that works for himself, for the multinationals and for his friends. The UPND economically has been a disaster, a failed project and if a failed project tells you it’s going to win by millions and millions, its wishful thinking. Actually, it’s a lot of ignorance and maybe arrogance also”.

Meanwhile, commenting on the UPND’s 2.8 million vote target, Dr Musumali described the target as wishful thinking, arguing that many Zambians were not happy with the ruling party.

“Maybe the first thing to say is that the first inspection that Mr Mwaliteta and his party can do is to get the true opinion of average Zambians and UPND is not the best suited agency to conduct a survey. A scientific, objective survey is what has to be undertaken and that will inform them better than them just conducting an inspection of a survey of their own structures. We have enough capable organisations in this country that could undertake this task and without pre-empting anything.

The mood on the ground is very different, Zambians are not happy, they are not exactly the people that he is describing. What he is saying is a lot of wishful thinking. If the opposition political forces do not come up and encourage the people to go and vote, as I said, it will lead to a voter apathy. So, a low voter turnout will definitely mean Mr Mwaliteta and his group are not going to meet the target or the figures that they are talking about,” said Dr Musumali.

“In any electoral process, when you start bragging about what you are going to achieve, how you are going to achieve [it] and how much of it you have done, already it shows a weakness. Let the voters speak, empty propaganda, empty rhetoric is not the way to go. You can do it for the sake of psychologically putting yourself in a better position of feeling good, but that feel good moment will soon disappear and he should know that better [than anyone]”.

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