By Daily Revelation Editor
We shall write about opposition unity again, because the happenings within the opposition seem to be persisting without there being a clear alternative, barely 7 months before the August 13, 2026 general elections.
With the unending bickering in the PF which came to the fore around 2023-2024, the divide seems to be deepening by the day in the former ruling party. A presidential candidate in PF, Brian Mundubile, will be contesting for the leadership of the Tonse Alliance, which has actually expelled the PF led Given Lubinda where he is also a presidential candidate. For anyone who is not familiar with the happenings, the chaos may seem abnormal but it is actually true.
One of the members of the so-called ‘PF ECL movement’ which joined Tonse and participated in ‘expelling’ PF, Zumani Zimba, actually, issued commentary in our last edition where he said that the possibility of PF/Tonse working together still remained, in terms of harmonising the who should be the presidential candidate and running mate, once both parties had elected their presidential candidates.
As the chaos is ongoing, time is also fast moving, which if they are not careful, come election they will still be embroiled in the same chaos, if not worse, possibility with the emergence of many other splinter factions from the arrangement.
But if there is one thing Zambians are known for, it is their ability to show politicians the way when they fail to do so themselves. They have always done so in almost all the elections that have been held in this country. From a field of many in the 2001 elections, they went towards the candidature of Anderson Mazoka and Levy Mwanawasa in that election. In the 2006 elections they elected for a Mwanawasa/Sata contest, 2008 Rupiah Banda/Sata, 2011 Banda/Sata, 2015 Edgar Lungu/Hakainde Hichilema, 2016 Lungu/Hichilema, 2021 again Lungu/Hichilema.
The main contenders for the 2026 besides the ruling UPND are not yet clear. However, the Chawama by-election could have provided a glimpse by picking the PF/Tonse/FDD candidate and then the UPND and finally the Citizens First (CF) in distant third, though with the the most improved in terms of vote numbers. Will the Kasama by-election maintain or upend that status quo? It may or may not, but it will provide further lessons in terms of voter aspirations ahead for the August 13, 2026 general elections.
Related
By Daily Revelation Editor
We shall write about opposition unity again, because the happenings within the opposition seem to be persisting without there being a clear alternative, barely 7 months before the August 13, 2026 general elections.
With the unending bickering in the PF which came to the fore around 2023-2024, the divide seems to be deepening by the day in the former ruling party. A presidential candidate in PF, Brian Mundubile, will be contesting for the leadership of the Tonse Alliance, which has actually expelled the PF led Given Lubinda where he is also a presidential candidate. For anyone who is not familiar with the happenings, the chaos may seem abnormal but it is actually true.
One of the members of the so-called ‘PF ECL movement’ which joined Tonse and participated in ‘expelling’ PF, Zumani Zimba, actually, issued commentary in our last edition where he said that the possibility of PF/Tonse working together still remained, in terms of harmonising the who should be the presidential candidate and running mate, once both parties had elected their presidential candidates.
As the chaos is ongoing, time is also fast moving, which if they are not careful, come election they will still be embroiled in the same chaos, if not worse, possibility with the emergence of many other splinter factions from the arrangement.
But if there is one thing Zambians are known for, it is their ability to show politicians the way when they fail to do so themselves. They have always done so in almost all the elections that have been held in this country. From a field of many in the 2001 elections, they went towards the candidature of Anderson Mazoka and Levy Mwanawasa in that election. In the 2006 elections they elected for a Mwanawasa/Sata contest, 2008 Rupiah Banda/Sata, 2011 Banda/Sata, 2015 Edgar Lungu/Hakainde Hichilema, 2016 Lungu/Hichilema, 2021 again Lungu/Hichilema.
The main contenders for the 2026 besides the ruling UPND are not yet clear. However, the Chawama by-election could have provided a glimpse by picking the PF/Tonse/FDD candidate and then the UPND and finally the Citizens First (CF) in distant third, though with the the most improved in terms of vote numbers. Will the Kasama by-election maintain or upend that status quo? It may or may not, but it will provide further lessons in terms of voter aspirations ahead for the August 13, 2026 general elections.
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Lubinda is enjoying commotion between Tonse and PF – Tonse
ePaper No.357 Wednesday, Jan 28-29, 2026
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