Opinion: It Maybe Too Close to Call Between Edgar Lungu and HH Interestingly that an innocuous opinion poll by private television station Muvi TV has caused so much panic among ruling party supporters. Naturally an opinion poll is just that – an opinion – and if their campaign was going so smoothly they would not have raised so much pandemonium but then the Patriotic Front should be grateful for one thing. The poll raises the reality that they could lose this election and the word they just could does exit. Note that even the supporters of the opposition United Party for National Development do not for once believe that their leader Hakainde Hichilema could win this election by the said 81% or even win it at all. Whatever the case here is what any of the supporters of these two top contenders should be worried about or maybe celebrate about. The Patriotic Front campaign has hardly been the most organized since they hit the campaign trail a few weeks ago and have yet to touch base across the country. But they should not forget that they are the ruling party and may not have to panic so much about being everywhere. However it is not a scenario they should take advantage of. Everyone knows what the Patriotic Front stands for, what it has done and not done or who is who in the Patriotic Front. But then, why the panic? Because there are still sticky points they still have to polish before they can sail to victory. Who are the key drivers of the Patriotic Front campaign? So far the most visible, apart from the candidate himself Edgar Lungu, there have been a heavy visibility of Road Development Agency board chairperson Willie Nsanda, Nkandu Luo, Jean Kapata, Emmanuel Mwamba among the notables. So the question the voters who are above sentimentality ask is. What value does Nsanda, Luo, Kapata, Mwamba bring to the Lungu campaign later on the whole country? What do these people stand for? What is their motivation to throw in everything in this campaign? And for Lungu what is his message in this campaign beyond sweeping statements of reinstating nurses, re-negotaiting the wage freeze imposed by the PF government? It is not enough for Lungu to just say balemibepa (they are cheating you) that they will give you free education, improve agriculture. He has to say what his stance is on his own account. That is what voters expect from a leading contender like Lungu and just maybe tell us who he is and what he has achieved beyond being woken up from Angola to come and act as President before President Sata died. We might as well just say that should a presidential candidate die on the podium whilst campaigning then the one who remains with the microphone in his hand can claim that he should take over because he was the one left with the microphone. There is one huge consolation for the PF; the streets of Lusaka and the Copperbelt still reek stubbornly of PF. They still haven’t shifted anywhere else. Fast forward to the UPND candidate who has had the benefit of touching base with almost every part of the country. They have had a well defined message that they have preached consistently. Add to that Hichilema is not new to the Zambian political terrain and knows this could well be his last try. Hichilema has gone some yards in shaking off the stigma his party suffers for being dominant in his home region of Southern Province. He has brought on board people from other regions notable Lunte Member of Parliament Felix Mutati, Lubansenshi Independent MP Patrick Mucheleka and former deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Mutale Nalumnago. How much influence these personalities have in their regions will only be visible after January, 20. He seems to still hold down the bulk of North Western Province and most of Western Province. How much of ground he has gained in the PF dominated Copperbelt and Lusaka Provinces is only going to be known on poll day. There could still be a battle for the heart and soul of Central and Eastern provinces before we get to January, 20 but he could count on the muscle of former First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa. But given where he was in 2011, Hichilema could be happy with where he stands and hope that just maybe he has done enough to till the balance. For now it is very much everyone’s game and only the voters hold the key. zambiareports/2014/12/29/opinion-maybe-close-call-edgar-lungu-hh/
Posted on: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 08:55:44 +0000
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