By Daily Revelation Editor
Former PF secretary general Mumbi Phiri says the former ruling party still has a lot of time to compete in the August 13, 2026 general elections.
She argued that late former president Edgar Lungu only campaigned for 21 days in the 2015 presidential by-election and won.
Phiri said presidents and members of parliament never voted for themselves.
We hold contrary views to those of Mumbi. This is because we believe that time is fast moving for political parties to put their houses in order so that they should focus on sharpening their general election mobilisation and messaging. And this actually goes to all the political parties which have not held their conventions, including the ruling UPND.
When Phiri cites the example of 2015 when Lungu only campaigned for 21 days and won, she must also be reminded about the benefits of incumbency he enjoyed in that the party he was contesting on was already in power. Lungu was also contesting on a party whose late leader Michael Sata was still enjoying a lot of popularity. His death had also extended some sympathies towards Lungu and the PF.
Those circumstances are not in play at the moment. The PF Phiri is talking about is one that has been battered with factionalism, some of it state sponsored, and partly because of the indiscipline within the PF and its ranks. This is a political party that is also not enjoying incumbency, and actually lost office in 2021. The best they can do right now is to quickly put their house in order by choosing their flag bearer, and working towards finding a special purpose vehicle (s) they would use in the elections.
After doing so, they can then focus on identifying and attracting the various candidates to stand for the various positions in the elections. While doing that, they could now focuss on electioneering for the 2026 general elections in terms of working on their manifestos and confronting some of the issues Phiri raised in that interview, including her concerns about the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s move to remove some security features on the ballot papers.
Phiri and her colleagues cannot continue to operate under the past circumstances which seemed to favour them as those same circumstances have changed for the worse over time.
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By Daily Revelation Editor
Former PF secretary general Mumbi Phiri says the former ruling party still has a lot of time to compete in the August 13, 2026 general elections.
She argued that late former president Edgar Lungu only campaigned for 21 days in the 2015 presidential by-election and won.
Phiri said presidents and members of parliament never voted for themselves.
We hold contrary views to those of Mumbi. This is because we believe that time is fast moving for political parties to put their houses in order so that they should focus on sharpening their general election mobilisation and messaging. And this actually goes to all the political parties which have not held their conventions, including the ruling UPND.
When Phiri cites the example of 2015 when Lungu only campaigned for 21 days and won, she must also be reminded about the benefits of incumbency he enjoyed in that the party he was contesting on was already in power. Lungu was also contesting on a party whose late leader Michael Sata was still enjoying a lot of popularity. His death had also extended some sympathies towards Lungu and the PF.
Those circumstances are not in play at the moment. The PF Phiri is talking about is one that has been battered with factionalism, some of it state sponsored, and partly because of the indiscipline within the PF and its ranks. This is a political party that is also not enjoying incumbency, and actually lost office in 2021. The best they can do right now is to quickly put their house in order by choosing their flag bearer, and working towards finding a special purpose vehicle (s) they would use in the elections.
After doing so, they can then focus on identifying and attracting the various candidates to stand for the various positions in the elections. While doing that, they could now focuss on electioneering for the 2026 general elections in terms of working on their manifestos and confronting some of the issues Phiri raised in that interview, including her concerns about the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s move to remove some security features on the ballot papers.
Phiri and her colleagues cannot continue to operate under the past circumstances which seemed to favour them as those same circumstances have changed for the worse over time.
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