Preening from the Chawama Constituency by-election electoral victory, the Opposition moved into Kasama with overwhelming confidence and hope that it would score a double. But as matters quickly unfolded, the Opposition learnt nothing from Chawama. Citizen First, Socialist Party along with United Prosperous and Peaceful Party (UPPZ), New Focus Party (NFP) competed alongside the Patriotic Front’s candidate standing under Tonse Alliance on the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) and the ruling United Party for National Development (UPND).
Like the Chawama race, this was expected to be a two-horse race between the UPND and the PF or its derivative as the mayoral seat was held by the Patriotic Front. But the ranking of the Opposition choose to use the by-elections to test the depth of the waters, try out their own system and to sell their presodential candidates. It became clear, that the Patriotic Front, expected to win theough its surrogates, was engaged in acts of self sabotaged.
The campaign in Chawama exposed the deepening rift within the former ruling party. While Acting President Given Lubinda led a strong comprising; Matero MP, Miles Sampa and former Ministers, Chishimba Kambwili and Lawrence Sichalwe, Mporokoso MP, Brian Mundubile and his loyal team of MPs conspicously stayed away from the campaigns. At the height of the campaigns in Chawama, news filtered through that the Lubinda led Patriotic Front was expelled from the Tonse Alliance, a political alliance where the Party had drawn Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs) National Cingress Party (NCP) and now Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD).
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The political alliance is an electoral pact to enable the PF to participate in elections following President Hakainde Hichilema’s determined quest and schemes to ban and prevent the former ruling party from participating in elections, and has engaged in schemes to diminish its past political influence on order to stop it from reclaiming its past political fortunes and control. The meeting to expel the PF was strangely attended apparently, by senior Members of the Central Committee that included among othersbBrian Mundubile and Mutotwe Kafwaya.
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