BRIEFING | Tonse Alliance Leaves Major Electoral Gaps Across Zambia
The Tonse Alliance under Brian Mundubile and Makebi Zulu has failed to file candidates in significant parts of Zambia’s electoral map ahead of the August 13 general elections.
Alliance figures show that Tonse did not field parliamentary candidates in 75 constituencies out of Zambia’s 226 seats, representing roughly one-third of the country’s parliamentary races. The alliance also failed to file in 89 council chairperson positions and 436 ward elections nationwide.
The gaps are politically significant because elections are not sustained only through presidential campaigns. Parliamentary, council chairperson, and ward candidates form the grassroots machinery that drives mobilisation, polling operations, and local visibility during campaigns.
The development has now contributed to a sharp rise in unopposed candidates across several parts of the country, producing one of the highest levels of uncontested positions seen in recent electoral cycles.
It also reflects the growing structural pressures facing sections of the opposition following the expansion of Parliament through the creation of 70 new constituencies, which significantly increased the financial and logistical cost of participating in this year’s elections.
While opposition alliances continue projecting unity at presidential level, the ruling United Party for National Development is increasingly consolidating organisational presence across multiple provinces with far fewer gaps on the ballot.
And in electoral politics, presence matters. Because power begins with names on the ballot paper.
© The People’s Brief | Francine Lilu