The Foundation for Democratic Process FODEP has observed that there is no clear favorite party to scoop the 2016 election in a few months.
Speaking in an interview FODEP Executive Director McDonald Chipenzi says the current political atmosphere does not pit any party as a clear favorite as parties have continued to loose seats in their traditional strong holds.
Mr. Chipenzi noted that political parties were jostling for popularity in what they considered to be their strongholds but that the recent by elections have shown that anything is possible as the main political parties lost and won seats in the areas they were not expected to win hence making it difficult for one party to claim that it is a front runner for the 2016 elections.
He explained that political dynamics change hence the need for political parties to hernias their popularity and ensure that their parties do not only maintain electorates who voted for them but ensure that their parties attract new electorate to grow their numbers.
He further states that currently it is a wait and see game for all political parties as the current political scenario makes it hard for any one party to be the out right victors in 2016.
Ba LT why is this news? This chap has no clue what he is talking about as always. Am sure there are better newsworthy stories out there! And how do political parties get hernias?
The favourite is PF at the moment of course. Why fluff about.
Chipenzi what are you smoking son ? Give me some of that stuff. We all know that the clear favourite is PF.
Ooooh this is baloney. Its only PF that won in UPND and MMD strong holds. Eastern and North Western. Anybody who thinks like this dullad must be sick. You need Chainama help. Its so easy to analyze and see and ignorumases like these want to pretend to be spin doctors? Zambia tubeleleko uluse.
Mr Chipezi it either you are very dull or you hate pf. With the current infrustructure development through out the country, anyone standing on the pf is wining. For reference sake look at the previous by-elections results.
Ba Chipenzi
The only time I could say there was a favorite to win elections was the MMD in 1991. Since then, the winner has been unpredictable. Sometimes, the winner is the loser like in 2001. I am surprised that you are now making political predictions. Perhaps you should stick to the constitution issue. Remember it is this document that will create a level playing field for all political parties. We need a constitution that will address the current deficiencies in our system. If the president dies today who becomes president? Elections again? When an MP resigns the next loser takes over. Cabinet outside parliament. I would like to see Zambia to be the first country to be run by the youngest leaders in the world.
CONTD…
…First we need to have all MPs to have a degree minimum and btwn ages 18 and 45. Ministers to have at least a masters degree and be btwn ages 21 and 49. The president should also have same qualifications as those of ministers. Can you imagine what we would achieve as a country?
What we could have in this your utopia is a country run by small, inexperienced, childish and incompetent leaders who are busy wishing to make it big in life. They’d be busy comparing their testosterone levels at the expense of development. Examples are VJ, Chakafuswa & Mweetwa.
@CHOMA MAANU….
I LAIKI VISI. ITI KANI HEOPU MWANER!!!
Your reasoning escapes me. Your attitude towards leadership issues smacks of blatant age discrimination. Can you tell me which country is run exclusively by those aged between 18 and 49 years? To me what matters is not age per se but the maturity, intelligence, wisdom and vision exhibited by those aspiring for power. If I find these attributes in one who is 35 years old I will vote for him; if it is a 70 year old with these attributes, he will get my vote. In my time, I have across a lot of young people who have virtually none of the attributes I have alluded to. I have also known some 70 year old plus professors who intellectually much sharper than the 20 year olds they teach at university. Do we consign these professors to the dustbin on account of old age?
How clairvoyant of Chipenzi to make such a prediction? Did he go to all corners of Zambia and talk to at least a sample population of voters to assess their views? Mr. Chipenzi you should be starting your statement by saying ‘In my opinion’. Did your governing body as FODEP sit to make such a premature assessment? Do not be another Dr. Simutanyi who told us MMD was going to win but PF soundly won the election. Your views Chipenzi are too conjectural to be taken seriously or are you just gasping to be a heading to sound relevant?
Defeated even before the game begins…… what is the real story behind these sentiments?
@kakolwe
I am surprised you think that a 40 year old cannot run a govt ministry or a country. No wonder we remain poor and backward because people like you think that you have to be a 100 years old to be president in Africa. I see that developed countries have younger leaders in their 40s and 50s and I must say they are doing very well and moving progressively. Do you know that old people like Scott and Sata actually behave like children…once a man twice a child
No no no no my friend. My argument is against the suggestion that leadership of the nation be restricted to the age group range of 18-49. With qualification of post graduate. Unless you strictly confine yourselves in the ‘ideal’. Life is lived in the real my boy. I have gone through enough varsities & can confidently challenge you to state which faculty offers a course in “wisdom”: NADA!! phDs are ALL in knowledge. Surely, you must know that we have “educated f000ls?”. Be rational musa!!
@kakolwe what wisdom has Sata exhibited since he come in power let alone as a family man.He has children from different women and he was a chain smoker and panga organizer in Chawama. So my dear Education help to modify people. You can easily gain wisdom through Knowledge .a well informed person is likely to govern properly than a dull and less educated man coupled with cancers.so next time don’t cheat your self vote wisely. We need an able bodied person, with lots of knowledge and wisdom should be demonstrated with his or her life style.dont use tribe but brains to vote.
Your reasoning escapes me. Your attitude towards leadership issues smacks of blatant age discrimination. Can you tell me which country is run exclusively by those aged between 18 and 49 years? To me what matters is not age per se but the maturity, intelligence, wisdom and vision exhibited by those aspiring for power. If I find these attributes in one who is 35 years old I will vote for him; if it is a 70 year old with these attributes, he will get my vote. In my time, I have across a lot of young people who have virtually none of the attributes I have alluded to. I have also known some 70 year old plus professors who intellectually much sharper than the 20 year olds they teach at university. Do we consign these professors to the dustbin on account of old age?
PF’s chances of winning will only be known once the successor to Sata is chosen. If winter is chosen then UPND will have greater chance of winning. However if Scot is chosen then the PF have greater chance of winning. If Mulenga Sata is chosen then PF will be in trouble. PF is winning in the opposition strong hold through intimidation and rigging. There is no doubt about that. If all things are equal PF has become unpopular even in their stronghold such as Northern province.
China you are partly right .However let me clear this misconception about UPND.UPND managed to win in Kafulafuta which is PF strong hold.The other point is the invironment in Livingstone, Mangango and Solwezi east was very volatile so PF should not cerebrate.We had by elections in rural areas we need one in kabwata or ndola central you will see that PF is not strong as others perceive it.For MMD it should forget the 2016 but they should keep re organizing themselves they may bounce back in 2021.If RB shows up he can make a huge difference but can still loose and creat a huge chance for HH.
Ba Chipenzi scientifically the recent by election results clearly shows that the PF are the front runners by far that is over 50%.We had 5 by elections and each constituency representing 20% threshold and 5 constituents representing 100% threshold,The MMD won one out of five hence they got 20%,The UPND also won one out of five hence they got 20% and the PF won 3 seats hence they got 60% ,simple mathematics.Even when you put together MMD and UPND in this scenario they can only go as far as 40%.May be the ,”No clear favorite” statement can be varied when the race is only between MMD and UPND,that is if PF is not contesting mind you.
Chipenzi is UPND suporting what can not be suported.stop talking about degrees and masters go to ministry of education and see what degerees are capable of. we hav MPs who are young what miracles are we to see in their constituencies?
@Chuku
Obviously, you missed the point. There is nowhere in the article that is suggesting that Chipenzi is UPND. Coming of the issue of age and education. You are telling me that you have seen the old leaders work hard and moved the country compared to young people. Since when did we have young people run our country? Zambian needs to move forward and in order to do that we need young, fresh and energetic minds to run things. Do you really like the fact that our president is old, ugly and sick? I don’t
What sickens me is having the Daniel Munkombwes in this day and age still at the helm of Zambian politics. If it had not been for the MMD’s ignoble defeat VJ would still be featuring in Zambian politics. I still recall when one of VJ’s parents died in 1971 or thereabout I was about 9 years old and VJ would not stay for the funeral because he had to dash out of Zambia for an important government meeting. Now fast forward from 1971 (& even prior) until the last election VJ was still an icon in Zambian politics! Do you wonder why we are still stuck in gear one? I understand starting politics at a young age made VJ wiser looking at his writing capabilities but a new Zambia needs new blood. However, this talk about Mulenga Sata makes me want to puke! We can do better than this…
Oh boy don’t even get me started on this Mulenga Sata BS. Since when did he think he is a capable leader? Isn’t he just riding on his father’s political career. I mean there are young, smart, articulate, young politicians who have tirelessly worked hard for the Zambian masses.
Recently, I had a 19 year old who was telling me that they like Sata because he has wisdom. I could not believe my ears. Little wonder why we are still in Standard 1
That is because you are busy blogging.. and Daniel Mukombwe is just been practical.. in the words or Alexander Chikwanda….’letako ka red wine tuube practical”
Chipenzi is a UPND supporter, even his background says so.But, there is certainly no problem in supporting UPND, its his constitutional right. I think, the PF are currentlyfront runners. They can point at NCZ, Zambia Railways, Zamtel, Finance Bank, Zambia National Building Society loans, major trunk roads and to a larger extent, some freedom of speech on ZNBC. Also, if the manage to decentralise power and give it to Councils as per Sata’s promise, then Zambia is headed for glory.
WITH ZAMBIANS, EVEN WHEN EVERYTHING IS IN BLACK (IN TERMS OF INFRA-STRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT) AND WHITE ON THE WALL THEY CAN MAKE A MISTAKE OF EXPERIMENTING WITH UNKNOWNS- EG UPND, FDD, ETC. WITHOUT WASTING TIME, THE INFRASTRUCTURE SHOULD SPEAK FOR PF- WHETHER YOU LOVE PF OR NOT.
ba chipenzi… I think utufyamba natumikola. first of all enlighten us with the criteria you have used to measure this prediction and the tools you’ve used thereof… as far as logic is concerned the writing is on the wall…
Dear All,
Greetings and hope our great Republic is looking after us well. Thank you for all your statements and comments on the story about who is the favorite for the 2016 elections. This is what democracy is all about. An old adages goes, “it is the mark of an educated mind to entertain a thought without accepting it” God be with you. see you once back in Zambia. shalom! shalom!
Bt this man is quite dull,wat he is sayin is nat makin any sense at all
It’s clear that voters are despondent with the current government off! However some bloggers are inept and airheaded in that they talk about invisible development of roads and other infrastructure may be in Bemba Land or Muchinga Province.You can not borrow huge sums of money & corruptly award contracts to your cabinet with shoddy works & mind you this loan has to be paid by all zambians soon for a long period of time.Its really very sad development where you see PF gullibles & compulsionists ullulating!
Iwe ci Chipenzi, ci opposition party cader! Don’t you know up to now that the CLEAR party for 2016 is PF ? Ci opposition cader, to hell with you!
choma my dear compare the amount of thieving and age. kapoko and mpombo,sata and chiluba now education pro.chirwa,Dr kashiwa bulaya. my dear our education system is just there to help you find employment
Guys,Pf is clearly a failed project with no leadership going by their squabbles.They have failed lamentably to manage their own party so how can we continue to entrust them with our national affairs beyond 2016?with or without their Sata this party is so gone.Upnd are clear favourites in 2016.
TO HIM HE HAS NO FRONT RUNNER 2016. HE HAS LOST HOPE EVEN IN HIS PARTY UPND THAT IT CAN NOT WIN 2016.
After 2011, they have been 20 by elections, and pf has won 15, the rest have been shared by UPND & MMD
I think Chipenzi is dull, the front runner is PF