Africa-Press – Zambia. It’s a very well known fact that for the first time, there is consensus among opposition political parties regarding the need for a united opposition going into the 2026 general elections.
However, concerns still abound, as there is no binding agreement about the process of choosing a popular candidate that all other opposition leaders should rally behind.
We have seen a number of efforts being applied to try and rally behind a singular candidate but to no avail. Differences about the approach are becoming more visible to the extent that what was regarded as whispers of disagreements, have suddenly become full blown main stream media headlines.
In our view, the current approaches to try and unite the opposition are failing and won’t work because the people championing these schemes are interested parties, who have already picked predetermined candidates of their choice.
This is what is causing resistance. We would recommended a change to the approach in the search for a singular candidate.
If those championing the process sincerely believe they are doing it in national interest, they should, as much as possible, try to reduce personal opinions on other’s ability or inability to lead.
Just like in a general election, we recommend that this process be taken back to the people, not a boardroom selection process.
Below, we have developed a thought process that can be applied to allow the Zambian people to own the process to choose their preferred candidate to lead a united opposition.
This being a governance and democratic issue, cooperating partners will be requested to support the exercise where all interested parties can be free to vet the process through transparent engagements and not the current closed door meetings.
The opposition should at all costs, resist a handful of people picking an opposition candidate and imposing such a candidate upon the people.
In our recommendation, the nation should first establish the popularity of a particular candidate through the following process:
1. Conduct a nationwide survey
All political party leaders, will be availed an opportunity to interrogate the survey tools to be used, including agreeing on engaging an independent audit firm to give full proof opinion about the credibility of the process.
2. The top 3 candidates from the poll will be subjected to a live presidential debate syndicated across top 4 TV stations and 10 community radio stations to sell themselves.
3. Provincial Primary Elections. After the debates, provincial primary elections can be held, one in each province at a neutral but trusted venue such as a Catholic facility.
4. Results will be counted and readout immediately the primary poll closes in each province. Representatives of participating parties will be present to verify the outcome.
6. A candidate who leads in 7 out of 10 Provincial Primaries, emerges as the most popular candidates to lead a united opposition front.
At this stage, every opposition leader should accept the verdict and results of the people through such a transparent, popular and democratic process.
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