WE join members of the Patriotic Front (PF), supporters and well-wishers in congratulating the ruling party for emerging victorious in the Mangango parliamentary by-election, and for scooping 18 of the 25 ward by-elections on Tuesday.
PF members deserve to be jubilant at their party’s victory because, firstly, they were largely on the receiving end of harassment and violence that characterised the Mangango campaigns. Secondly, the PF has until now not faired quite well in elections that have so far been conducted in some rural provinces, including Western Province.
For instance, the party’s Mangango victory has now given the ruling party just three parliamentary seats in the province – the other two being Nalolo held by Gender Minister Inonge Wina and Mongu Central which was scooped by Nathanael Mubukwanu during the 2011 presidential and general elections.
Of course Mongu Central cannot be said to be in a rural district in the strictest sense of the term as the provincial centre is, by Zambian standards, a town.
Meanwhile, in Nalolo, although a rural outpost, PF’s victory was largely courtesy of Ms Wina’s popularity, her connections there as daughter of the area considered.
As for the Mangango seat, we can simply say that the PF had very little impact there up to the 2011 elections when Robert Chiseke, contesting the seat on the MMD ticket then, won it by more than 700 votes.
Mr Chiseke defeated six other candidates when he got 3,136 against his closest rival, Webby Malubisha of the United Party for National Development (UPND) who polled 2,389 votes. With just 770 votes, the PF came out third. OPINION
These figures clearly show that Mangango had been hunting ground for the MMD and UPND with the PF nowhere near these two parties in terms of popularity in this Western Province constituency.
Mr Chiseke reportedly wanted to re-contest the seat on the PF ticket in Tuesday’s by-lection, which was occasioned by the Supreme Court’s nullification of his election on account of electoral malpractices.
However, the PF did not adopt him and many people, especially PF supporters in Mangango Constituency, feared that this would cost the ruling party dearly.
This was not to be as the ruling party defied all odds, including intimidation and actual attacks against its supporters by suspected members of the opposition and, in the end proved to have become the most popular political party, beating its closest rival, the UPND by more than 700 votes.
There are lessons to be learnt from this sudden turn of events in Mangango where the PF had all along been considered not to be a factor.
As President Michael Sata said, the Mangango by-election results clearly showed the PF’s growing recognition even in places where the party had in the past been struggling to win people’s hearts.
For the PF to make inroads in areas that were previously predominantly for other parties is not surprising because of the Government’s unprecedented development projects even in regions where the party was initially rejected.
Western Province is, for instance, a major beneficiary of construction projects such as road works, health posts and schools, the proposed ultramodern stadium, as well as the K1.3 billion under-construction Mongu-Kalabo Road, by far the most expensive on the African continent.
Incidentally, Kalabo is one of the areas where the ruling party won one of the 18 ward by-elections, the Buleya Ward seat in Kalabo Central Constituency. This is an affirmation of the fact that people are not interested in politics of violence but are desirous of development. In the end it was a victory for democracy.
Victory for democracy indeed, and this was one of those delightful moments for PF supporters, with the party and Republican President Mr Sata saying the PF “has continued gaining incredible ground in Western, Central and Southern provinces. Victories in areas like Mkushi, Kalabo and Kaoma underscores our party’s growing recognition across the country.”
The President is very right. What can also be said is that PF’s latest victories in Western Province particularly are in addition to earlier ones when the party previously won the Mabili and Nangula wards in Luena Constituency, a sign of yet more good tidings for the ruling party.