CURRENT ECZ AN EXTENTION OF THE UPND – Antonio Mwanza

CURRENT ECZ AN EXTENTION OF THE UPND – MOURINHO

…says UPND want to keep the political parties busy with the by elections because they know that by elections are costly

Lusaka… Wednesday, February 21, 2024 ( Smart Eagles )

The Socialist Party (SP) Deputy General Secretary Antonio Mourinho Mwanza has fumed due to the alleged Electoral Commission of Zambia’s (ECZ) incapability to hold credible elections.

In justifying his stance, Mr Mwanza pointed out that the Commission is full of well-known UPND sympathizers such as Mr Brown Kasaro who holds the position of the Chief Electoral Officer.

He said Mr Kasaro doesn’t have the credibility to hold that office he is currently.

Mr Mwanza demanded that the ECZ must abide by the Constitution, the Electoral Process Act and the Electoral Code of Conduct.

“They must enforce the proposals that came from the church, the political parties and the European Union in the analysis of the 2021 general elections and also the reports that we made as political parties to the Electoral Commission of Zambia,” he said.

“If we do not see those reforms which call for the total repeal of the public order act among other things we will not see free and fair elections.”

And Mr Mwanza has disclosed that the UPND is encouraging councilors to resign just so they can create by elections in trying to maintain a fake impression that as a political party, they are gaining ground.

“They want to keep the political parties busy with the by elections because they know that by elections are costly. We are spending a lot of money to participate in these by elections,” he said.

“And they are also time consuming. The UPND is not spending any money. They are using tax payers’ money. They are using government vehicles, they are using government facilities, they are using government officials who by law are not allowed to participate in elections.”

Mr Mwanza described the by elections as unnecessary.

“So they are spending zero, and they know we are spending a lot of money and they are trying to bankrupt the opposition political parties. These are unnecessary by elections, just like they try to bankrupt the opposition with unnecessary arrests on trumped up charges,” he said.

“They keep us busy at the courts, at a time when we are supposed to be out mobilizing our parties. They are making these by elections to create an impression that as a political party they are strong and that they are entering into territories where they didn’t have the support. Look at what is going on in terms of by elections.”

He observed that the elections are not taking place in the traditional strongholds for the UPND.

“There are no by elections in Western Province, there are no by elections going on in Southern Province, there are no by elections going on in North Western Province,” he said.

“The elections are only in places where the UPND performed badly in 2021… These by elections are not a true measure of the popularity of the UPND. We are concerned as the Socialist Party with the credibility and capacity of the Electoral Commission of Zambia to hold free and fair and credible elections.” S