By JOHN KOMBE
THE poor voter turnout in the Mongu mayoral by-election is a sign of the high levels of economic and political fatigue among the electorate, veteran politician, George Mpombo, has said.
In an interview, Dr. Mpombo said the unprecedented low voter turnout for such a high profile by-election was a source of concern and must not be ignored.
He said that the UPND government can only ignore this fact at its own peril.
He observed that citizens were too fatigued to walk to the polling stations.
He advised the government to ensure that it begins to implement the promises that it made during the elections.
He insisted that unless the UPND government does things differently, its political fortunes will continue to evaporate at an alarming rate.
According to Dr. Mpombo, the citizens were suffering from political and economic malaise and had nothing to motivate them to walk to a polling station.
He pointed out that people cannot be motivated to vote for a government that did not seem to care about their suffering.
He noted that even if the ruling party wins a poorly attended election, it should not be comfortable because that will be tantamount to burying one’s head in the sand.
He lamented the high cost of living in which commodity prices were skyrocketing and inflation was on the run.
He said that such a hopeless scenario cannot be doubted as a reason for the low voter turnout for a mayoral seat that is usually highly charged.
Mr. Mpombo said that the UPND Alliance government needs to take stock of its political position.
He said that ignoring signs of fatigue and dissatisfaction among the citizens would be very catastrophic for the party in government and hence a need for a reality check.
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