30/06/2025
BY-ELECTIONS MARRED BY MALPRACTICE, TRUE CHANGE ON THE HORIZON – SP
…says the current electoral environment was plagued by serious irregularities, including corruption, bribery, vote buying, manipulation, falsification of results, abuse of state resources, and acts of violence
Lusaka… Monday June 30, 2025 – The Socialist Party (SP) has cast doubt on the ruling UPND’s popularity, arguing that recent by-election victories do not reflect genuine support from the Zambian people.
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In a statement issued to the media, Mr. Faston Mwale, Deputy General Secretary for Political Affairs of the Socialist Party, stated that the UPND’s electoral successes were not indicative of widespread public approval.
Mr. Mwale asserted that the current electoral environment was plagued by serious irregularities, including corruption, bribery, vote buying, manipulation, falsification of results, abuse of state resources, and acts of violence.
He argued that such malpractices rendered election outcomes untrustworthy and unrepresentative of the people’s true will.
Citing the Lumezi parliamentary by-election, Mr. Mwale noted that ballot papers were reprinted and delivered without validation by key stakeholders, raising concerns about transparency.
While some may point to opposition wins in past by-elections to challenge this view, Mr. Mwale insisted that widespread electoral malpractice remained a dominant and troubling feature of the political landscape.
He called on opposition forces not to withdraw from the political struggle but to remain resilient.
Mr. Mwale further argued that the UPND had failed to improve the material conditions of Zambians nearly four years into its term.
He cited a national poverty rate of 60 percent and rural poverty of nearly 79 percent as evidence of economic mismanagement.
He questioned why a country rich in natural and human resources remained mired in hunger, poverty, and underdevelopment decades after gaining independence.
Additionally, he lamented the poor literacy levels among young children in resource-rich regions like the Copperbelt, highlighting what he described as a contradiction in governance priorities.
Despite what he termed “temporary setbacks,” Mr. Mwale urged comrades committed to progressive change not to be discouraged.
He emphasized that the victories of the UPND would ultimately prove to be illusory if they were not grounded in the will of the people.
Quoting dialectical principles, he stated that “nothing lives forever” and warned that a time of political reckoning was on the horizon.
While he acknowledged that objective conditions for regime change already existed, he stressed the need to strengthen subjective conditions through mass mobilization, education, and advocacy.
He concluded by echoing Socialist Party President Fred M’membe’s belief that a better society was possible–but only through collective struggle.
“Do not relent, comrades. Keep the spirit,” Mr. Mwale said, calling on fence-sitters to join the cause for national transformation.
