Africa-Press – Zambia. The Patriotic Front has joined other Opposition parties in demanding that the rules set by the Electoral Commission of Zambia for the upcoming by-election be set aside.
Patriotic Front Secretary General Raphael Nakacinda, has stated that the rules set were a violation of the Elctoral Process Act No. 35 of 2016. The ECZ had set Tuesday 19th December, 2023 for the nominations of Mayembe Ward in Shiwangandu, Kapamba Ward in Mpika and Kaya Ward in Mwansabombwe districts.
ECZ has directed that the the candidate’s certificate must be signed by the Party President or Secretary General. This measure has been noted as one targeted at the Patriotic Front to allow the formal recognition of Miles Sampa by ECZ.
ECZ has been condemned for being openly partisan and for allowing to be a tool of the UPND to undermine elections as seen in the Kwacha and Kabushi Constituency
Below is the Letter to ECZ The Chief Electoral Officer Electoral Commission of Zambia Elections House, Haile Selassie Avenue, Longacres, P.O Box 50274, Lusaka , Dear Sir Re: NOMINATIONS FOR BY ELECTION OF COUNCILLORS
We refer to the above matter and the public announcement made by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) calling for nomination from stakeholders for the forthcoming elections
We make particular reference to the Circular issued by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) which contains the requirement that the Certificate of adoption by the Nominees must “bear both the signatures and name of the the party president or Secretary General”
Our party wish to place it on record that this requirement does not have the backing of the law We have considered the provisions of the Electoral Act Number 35 of 2016 and have not found any provision that requires the candidates to produce a certificate endorsed in the manner suggested in the publication by ECZ or indeed any provision that confers powers on ECZ to issue circulars like the one presently being addressed by our letter
The ECZ may wish to be placed on notice that the public has high expectations for ECZ to conduct the affairs of the electoral process in a highly independent and impartial manner This is particularly so having regard to the emotive and tensional environment that has been created in our Country by reason of the misconduct of the United Party for National Development (UPND) since their election into Government
It is a notorious fact that all senior members of the current ECZ were appointed by the UPND Government This act alone has place your Institution under the periscope as citizens assess the level of impartiality independence and objectivity of the ECZ
On the basis of the foregoing we write to strongly demand that you withdraw the publication which is currently doing round in the public media and specifically remove from it the requirement of the signatures of the very high ranking members of the parties as a way if authenticating the certificate.
We expect that the nominations and by extension the elections will be conducted in the manner recognized by the Electoral Act and by the known practice applicable since the time the Country returned to plural politics in 1991 Finally We now await your response by close of business today since our letter is a follow up to the meeting we requested this morning.
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