Africa-Press – Zambia. Electoral expert Mcdonald Chipenzi has opposed recommendations by the European Union (EU) Observer Mission that Zambia phases out the grade 12 qualification requirement for one to stand as a member of parliament.
Mr. Chipenzi tells Phoenix News that the grade 12 requirement has resulted in the reduction of mediocre kind of leadership that was witnessed in the past.
He says the country should actually be looking at upgrading the qualification for a member of parliament to a degree level as a way of ensuring the relevance of parliament.
Mr. Chipenzi also argues that you cannot find parliamentarians in the UK Parliament adding that most of them are Degree and Masters Degree holders. And Mr. Chipenzi says the revision of the public order act is currently dependent on how fast Justice Minister Mulambo Haimbe takes the draft bill to parliament.
He says the removal of the President’s immunity during election campaigns and reduction of nomination fees can easily be done by parliament and has since challenged the UPND government to fulfill its promises of ensuring these matters are dealt with urgently.
Meanwhile, Politics and International Relations Expert Mwila Bwanga has urged -ECZ-to prioritize decentralizing its operations to district level across the country.
The latest report on the august 12, 2021 general election by the EU Observation Mission says that despite a constitutional provision foreseeing decentralized ECZ structures at the provincial and district level, these are not in place and the ECZ relies on the support of the local administration.
Mr Bwanga explains that in the previous election, although the electoral administration at local level was well organized, it frequently did not enjoy the trust among the local stakeholders and there were inconsistencies in the implementation of procedures at various stages of the process and varying competency levels.
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