Disband UPND’s ECZ, Lubinda demands
By Adrian Mwanza
THE current Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) should be disbanded because it has become a branch of the United Party for National Development (UPND) senior Patriotic Front (PF) member Given Lubinda says.
And Socialist Party presidential advisor Preston Chinyama says the UPND has crossed the line and Zambians must stop it.
In an interview with The Mast yesterday, Lubinda said the recent appointment of Zevyanji Sinkala, a known UPND member and an aspiring candidate for Luanshya, was an indication that the current government would do anything to cling to power.
“The opposition stands no chance because the current crop of ECZ commissioners are all members of the UPND. So my call is for the total disbandment of the ECZ so that we can bring in new and impartial individuals,” he said.
Lubinda said the survival of the opposition in Zambia depended on unity, warning that failure to do the right thing would make it difficult to remove the UPND in August.
He said unity among the opposition was the only strong weapon to destroy the ruling party.
And governance activist Laura Miti has wondered why the UPND is testing the patience of the people of Zambia by appointing cadres into ECZ as commissioners.
Miti described the move by President Hakainde Hichilema to appoint known UPND cadres into ECZ as a quiet but brutal arrogance.
She said it was unacceptable to appoint individuals who were partisan to the office of commissioner ahead of the August election.
“There is this quiet, but brutal arrogance about how the UPND does its politics. To appoint an unapologetically partisan individual to the electoral commission, months before the general election, is one of those moves I describe as so. What can you do about it,” Miti said.
She said Sinkala would now join the likes of Macdonald Chipenzi at ECZ as a person who tried to contest elections on the ruling party ticket.
And Socialist Party presidential advisor Preston Chinyama says the UPND has crossed the line and Zambians must stop it.
Chinyama said the concerns raised by the Zambians over the appointment should be taken seriously.
“Apparently, the UPND government doesn’t seem to learn, doesn’t seem to listen to the views and the concerns of the Zambian people. Every time they mismanage the process, it breaches the expectations of the Zambian people,” he said.
He said appointments to public office were a trusted responsibility.
Chinyama said Zambians had lost trust and confidence in the current system.
He said Zambians were talking about the new appointments because they were a danger to the country’s democracy.
