SIMUUWE WARNS AGAINST PREMATURE DECLARATION OF PRESIDENTIAL RESULTS
LUSAKA — UPND Media Director Mark Simuuwe has warned political parties against declaring a winner of the presidential election outside the legally established process, saying the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) is the institution mandated to declare the official result.
Mr. Simuuwe said any attempt to use means outside the constitutional electoral process to declare a presidential winner would be unlawful and called on law-enforcement authorities to act where electoral laws are breached.
He accused the opposition NRPUP of attempting to undermine the ongoing vote-counting process following what he described as significant gains by the UPND across the country.
Mr. Simuuwe said the UPND’s performance in several provinces had put the opposition under pressure, particularly in constituencies where the ruling party was making gains.
He cited preliminary results which he said showed the UPND had secured six seats in Northern Province, five in Eastern Province and seven in Luapula Province, while also making significant gains in Muchinga Province.
Mr. Simuuwe further said the UPND had performed strongly in Lusaka, where he claimed the party had secured 11 of the 18 parliamentary seats, in addition to recording a strong presidential performance.
He argued that the UPND’s performance in Northern, Eastern, Luapula and Muchinga provinces had affected NRPUP’s prospects in other parts of the country.
Mr. Simuuwe said NRPUP could also face losses in North-Western, Western, Southern and Central provinces, as well as Lusaka, which he attributed to what he termed a campaign that had failed to establish broad national support.
He alleged that the opposition’s response to the preliminary results amounted to an attempt to declare victory prematurely and undermine the counting process in areas where it had suffered losses.
“The only solution they believe they have is to declare themselves winners prematurely, hoping someone out there will sympathise with them,” Mr. Simuuwe said.
He urged all political parties, candidates and their supporters to allow the ECZ to complete the verification and counting process before drawing conclusions on the final outcome.
UPND MT