.Lungu

By JULIUS PHIRI –

FORMER Petauke Central Member of Parliament (MP) Dora Siliya said President Edgar Lungu has a lot of work to harmonise the country in the aftermath of the potentially divisive voting pattern in the just-ended Presidential Election.
Ms Siliya said in a statement that the newly elected President and his team had a lot of work to do in Southern Province and other areas that did not vote for the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), to feel included in the ‘One Zambia, One Nation’ aspiration.
She explained that the political instability in Western and North-Western provinces over the Barotse issue and general high poverty levels respectively, were clearly reflected in the voting patterns.
“Even after much investment in the mines in North-Western Province in the last 5 (five) years, the people there feel left out in the enjoyment of the wealth from their natural resources. Infrastructure too has not been attended to especially the Chingola-Solwezi Road,” she said.
Ms Siliya said the significant increase of UPND votes were recorded in Lusaka, Copperbelt, Luapula, Northern, Muchinga, Central and Eastern provinces showed people’s dissatisfaction with the PF Government.
She also attributed the massive voter apathy in the just-ended presidential election to heavy rains in most parts of the country and the fact that it was planting season for most of the small-scale farmers.
Ms Siliya who is a former Cabinet minister in MMD Government said in a statement that the country had never stopped being in the election mood since 2011 due to the many by elections.
“The general voter apathy was normal in many by-elections which were also exacerbated by the many parliamentary by-elections witnessed in the last 3 years.
The country has never stopped being in election mode since 2011,” Ms Siliya said.