In fact had the opposition 'alliance' parties worked as promised during the election campaigns, they would have swept most of the posts in the National Assembly.The new Speaker polled 78 votes against 77 for Richard Kapita, vice-president of the United Party for National Development (UPND) which holds the balance of power in the National Assembly with 28 seats. Though it is vastly outnumbered by the opposition in the House, the PF had its way on the matter by dint of the opposition failing to work as a team, despite promising to do so during campaigns for the September 20 tripartite elections, which the former ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy lost for the first time in 20 years.
The PF has only 68 seats including the eight nominated members in the 158-member assembly. This is the first time since 1991 that the opposition is so dominant. Matibini's election as Speaker raised questions of whether the opposition would be strong and cohesive enough to provide checks and balances despite its dominance. For, it tended to show that the governing party, despite being in minority, may still have things pretty much its way.
