Anti-Voter Apathy Project Zambia (AVAP) has urged political parties to use other alternative media houses following the abolishment of public rallies.
AVAP Executive Director Richwell Mulwani has implored political parties and candidates to use social media and the mainstream media to sell their political ideologies to enhance voter participation ahead of the August 12 general elections.
Mr Mulwani advised political parties and candidates to adhere to COVID-19 health guidelines and use other platforms to sell their party manifesto to the public.
“When political parties and candidates are communicating using the media such as radio and television and social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter, they can still reach out to the masses,” he said.
Mr. Mulwani stated that the electorate need to be provided with information on the various political candidates in order to make an informed decisions.
“Information is critical, therefore, it is important that people are given information they need for them to vote for a political party of their choice,” he said.
Mr. Mulwani noted that AVAP understands that it is challenging for political parties to do their campaigns without holding rallies but that political parties should use other mechanisms so that Zambia does not have a huge amount of spoiled votes.
“We have seen that in the past elections the country recorded about 85,000 spoiled votes and so in this time of COVID-19 where political polities are advised to do the door to door campaigns, the situation is likely to repeat itself,” he said.
Mr. Mulwani has further appealed to political parties and independent candidates to take advantage of the approved permit from the Ministry of Health and meet in small groups with strict adherence to the COVID-19 health guidelines to enhance voter participation.
“People are waiting to see political parties campaign for them to get the message that is critical to the electorate,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr. Mulwani has challenged political parties to avoid engaging in violence as they conduct their door to door campaigns.
What are other available media? One would hope you are familiar with the intricacies of your chosen expert field. How do you campaign if all national news outlets do not cover you!?
You can also use lusaka times to post articles. For us will look into posting articles in different local languages. We are working extremely hard behind the scenes during these unprecedented times. As a political strategist I can tell you this virus has brought a lot of change in how we work
campaign is not about making noise or degrading opponents but is about communicating to voters steps to be taken to achieve desired results like improving quality of life. Do not campaign with a tribe in your mind, it will take you nowhere, it is just unfortunate that tribalism in Zambia is taking too long to melt in the pot, The good news is it is melting. Free advice to UNPD and HH , say something positive about Kazungula bridge, it is a greatest thing that has happened in Southern Africa, Countries working together, a step to integrating economies in Southern Africa. ECL got votes from this one.
AVAP clearly is not aware of the grip the ruling party has on the media. Opposition parties don’t have access to ZNBC, Daily Mail etc. and social media are discriminated by providers. And the percentage of voters with a smart phone is under 5% especially in rural areas.