By Francis Chipalo
I recently wrote an article as to who would be the UPND’s and President Hakainde Hichilema’s competitor in the next elections slated for 2026 looking at the current opposition that we have in the country
I will still say this once again, the opposition in Zambia need to up their game if they are to give competition to the current government of President Hichilema, don’t they?
In my previous analysis former president Edgar Chagwa Lungu alias ECL was also topic of discussion before being knocked out via the Concourt ruling against him. Well let’s not talk about but yeah, I did brought ECL in my discourse because, apparently, he is one of the opposition leaders who commands a huge following (although at the moment it is confusing to state which camp the former president is leading) isn’t it?
Surprisingly, the decision by the Concourt ruling that ECL is not eligible to contest next elections has sent the UPND in general into jubilations. Question is why? Well, your guess is as good as mine. Painful is it might be, the UPND knew that ECL was their major competitor in 2026. Whether ECL and PF messed up things, it is common knowledge that the former president was giving the new dawn administration sleepless nights even if they can never admit to this.
Now that ECL is out of the picture despite his “Plan B” statement which seems to have unsettled some sections of society, the UPND should not make any mistake of relaxing and thinking that they will have a walk over in 2026 because they have an economy to arrest, don’t they?
So far so good for them right? That’s my opinion and in my opinion again, Bally and team still have a huge mountain to climb in my view as far as delivering their campaign promises is concerned looking at what is trending currently on the ground. Yes the ground people have mixed feelings unless you just want to ignore and pretend. You are free to undertake your own random survey.
What UPND has achieved so far does not guarantee a Bally – come back in 2026. Why do I say so? I will take you back to my recent article on this topic, whose most comment having being that “yes! We seem not to have an opposition leader capable of standing against Bally apart from the “Zambian people” themselves. It was Zambians who hired HH in 2021 and it can be the same Zambians who can fire him in 2026 should they express dissatisfaction. History has a tendency of repeating itself, doesn’t it? Ask ECL and PF incase you might have forgotten already.
This is the time for President Hichilema and his team together with the entire UPND to work harder than before. Tie all loose ends in their development agenda for the nation and continue delivering in the remaining one plus years.
If indeed UPND has delivered or is indeed delivering, their works will speak for them in 2026 through the ballot box.
Coming back to the opposition, anything is possible with Zambian politics and anything come happen between now and 2026, otherwise we continue watching from the terraces as commentators. Compliments of the season.
My opinion!
The author is a Journalist, Media Consultant and Mental Health Activist
