REASONS FOR PF DOWNFALL
IWOULD like to share my thoughts on the reasons which led to the down fall of the Patriotic Front government, despite doing so well in infrastructure development. In my post election analysis, I have identified the following as the reasons why the party lost the election.
1. VOTERS’ REGISTER
The compilation of the new voters’ register by ECZ worked in favour of the opposition because youths were the majority on the new register and majority of them were for regime change.
In addition, there was a huge number of first time voters, ie youths born in the 1990s and early 2000s. This is confirmed by the age group we saw on the queues on voting day.
UPND must thank the ECZ for the idea of coming up with a new register. UPND and other opposition parties, including some civil society organisations had objected to this idea. PF supported the idea of a new register. It is my view that had the old register been used, PF would have won the elections or a re-run would have taken place.
2. UPND CAMPAIGN MESSAGE
The campaign message and promise by UPND to address the economic challenges such as poverty/high cost of living, unemployment, access to education etc, resonated very well with the majority of youths hence, the mass voter turnout. In short, UPND connected very well with youths during the campaigns.
3. LACK OF A COMPETENT ECONOMIC
MANAGEMENT TEAM President Edgar Lungu did not have a competent team of economic managers and advisers to help him manage the economy. He also failed to find a suitable Finance Minister during his reign. The Ministry of Finance had the highest turnover in terms of Ministers of Finance. He started with Alexander Chikwanda, then came Felix Mutati. Mr Mutati was replaced by Margaret Mwanakatwe and finally Bwalya Ng’andu.
In short, there was instability at the Ministry of Finance because of the short tenure of office of ministers. This was not healthy.
4. TRIBAL TALK
The return of GBM and Chishimba Kambwili to PF was not a plus but a minus to the party because these were politically disgraced individuals whom Zambians had no regard for. The tribal talk which the duo embarked on during the campaigns was offensive to other ethnic groups and was interpretation to be hate speech and against the spirit of One Zambia One Nation.
It was also perceived to have been propagated with President Lungu’s approval, because he did nothing to stop it. In all his speeches after his victory, President Hichilema lamented on this aspect and called for a stop to ethnic divisions.
5. PF CAMPAIGN MESSAGE
The PF campaign message was not well packaged. It was devoid of solutions of how they would tackle the economic challenges the country was facing if re-elected. UPND did very well in identifying the country’s economic challenges and what was required to tackle them. PF focused so much on their achievements in infrastructure development, but nothing to offer on economic recovery.
They did not strike a balance between infrastructure development and maintaining a healthy economy. Both are important.
6. CADRE INFLUENCE AND BREAKDOWN OF LAW AND ORDER
The PF government allowed its cadres and criminal elements to wield alot of influence and power which they do not have under any law of the land.
Cadres set up their own structures within the party and gave themselves titles and powers to manage public places like markets, bus stations, bars, restaurants etc. A number of them enriched themselves from these illegal activities through extortion of money and collection of illegal levies
7. CORRUPTION
The PF government earned itself a bad name as a corrupt government where officials were perceived to be in possession of illicit wealth. And the court of public opinion bought into this narrative. The result is that the government’s name was dented.
8. PRESIDENT LUNGU’S ELIGIBILITY TO CONTEST THE ELECTIONS
Despite the Constitutional Court clearing the air on this aspect and the ruling that he was eligible, the opposition, some civil society organisations and some media organisations, peddled the false narrative that he was not eligible and accused President Lungu of having prevailed over the ConCourt to rule in his favour. Some voters believed this false narrative.
9. HUMAN VIOLATIONS
RIGHTS
This is another aspect which earned the PF government a bad name. They were accused of human rights violations and suppressing people’s freedoms.
The government was also accused of capturing the media, especially the state-owned ones. Some media houses were closed, allegedly for being critical of the government or for covering the opposition.
10. OVER CONFIDENCE
The PF went into the elections under the mistaken belief that they had already won and that the elections were merely to fulfill the constitutional scripture.
They also believed that Mr Hichilema was a rejected politician who Zambians cannot vote for, having lost elections five times. They were wrong. Every contest is a different ball game. You cannot bank on past glory.
These reasons notwithstanding, the consolation for PF is that they were not rejected by the voters out rightly. PF did well at local government and parliamentary level. The crushing defeat was at presidential level.
They have more than 50 seats in parliament and in control of more than 50 local authorities. This is a good achievement in my view for a party which has just lost power.
Ordinarily, PF should have been wiped out like UNIP and MMD in 1991 and 2011, respectively. Going forward, the future of PF is dependent upon them ushering in a whole new credible and formidable leadership who can restore the image of the party and win back the confidence of the voters.
Anything short of this will lead to the extinction of PF. The current leadership cannot be given a second chance to form government. That is just the reality.
MOBBRAY MWEWA, Lusaka.