PF basks in victory, ticks off doomsayers
PEOPLE claiming that the voter apathy experienced in the Lusaka city mayoral byelection was a boycott vote against governance are misguided, says PF secretary-general Davies Mwila.
He said the same people who voted for the Patriotic Front (PF) would have voted for the opposition in protest.
And Mr. Mwila has declared the PF as a sauntering and unstoppable train which was ready to crush the opposition in the forthcoming Kasenengwa parliamentary by-election and was encouraging all members eyeing the seat to apply.
Asked to comment on assertions that people refused to turn up en masse and vote for their preferred candidate in Thursday’s by-election in Lusaka owing to poor national leadership, Mr. Mwila said the fact that the PF had won was testimony enough that people still had faith in its leadership.
He said if that was not the case, even the few that had turned up to vote for the party and usher in Miles Sampa as Lusaka mayor would have voted otherwise and given the opposition the vote.
Mr Mwila said the phenomenon called for more effort from all political parties in convincing the electorates to turn up and exercise their right to vote. “What poor governance are you talking about when the same few people who turned up voted for the PF? You could have said it was a boycott vote against the PF leadership if the same people voted for the opposition but the fact that they voted for the PF simply means they still have faith in this government. Of course we recorded a low voter turnout and this is an issue that all political parties must address,” Mr. Mwila said. And Mr. Mwila said PF was certain that it would win the Kasenengwa parliamentary by-election because other than being in its stronghold, people in the area were looking forward to continued development and not vague promissory notes.
Mr Mwila thanked all members for delivering a resounding victory in Thursday’s polls across the country in which PF grabbed 13 out of 14 seats, adding that the fact that the UPND was losing elections in its own stronghold was evidence that the ruling party was working.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mwila said the differences between the PF and the UPND had narrowed down and that the ruling party was looking forward to the forthcoming dialogue with other political parties.
Mr Sampa got 81,936 votes followed by UPND’s Kangwa Chileshe with 36,753 while Mukubesa Mundia of People’s Alliance Pact received 7,741 and in fourth place was Saboi Imboela of the NDC with 2,645 votes.
In the Chilanga council elections, PF candidate Annie Brown won with 6,776 votes against her closest rival from the UPND, George Muleya getting 4,396 votes.