ECZ should denounce PF for saying Lungu has won August elections – Harrington

27th May 2021

Local

William Harrington making a contribution during a public discussion on Bill 10 organized by News Diggers! Eden University, Chapter One Foundation, OSISA and Prime Television at Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka on January 17, 2020 - Picture by Tenson Mkhala

Local

William Harrington making a contribution during a public discussion on Bill 10 organized by News Diggers! Eden University, Chapter One Foundation, OSISA and Prime Television at Intercontinental Hotel in Lusaka on January 17, 2020 - Picture by Tenson Mkhala

PEOPLE’s Alliance for Change vice-president William Harrington has called on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to take special interest in the declaration by the PF that President Edgar Lungu has already won the August polls.

In an interview, Harrington said the declaration being made by the PF was a recipe for dispute and election petition, which must be avoided by all means.

“The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) must take a special interest in the declaration by the Patriotic Front (PF) that the August elections are just a formality and that President Lungu “has already won”. The ECZ recently announced, and correctly so, that it is the only body or institution legally mandated to make pronouncements on the electoral process and results of elections,” he said.

“It is therefore totally unacceptable that the ECZ should be seen to be tolerating mischievous declarations on the forthcoming elections which are meant to mislead the voting public, and encourage or cause petitions in the Constitutional Court on the election results that may favour the PF and President Lungu. Such a declaration as being made by the PF ahead of the August 2021 election is a sure recipe for dispute and petition, and even bloodshed, which must be avoided by all means.”

He urged ECZ to take a keen interest in the matter and denounce the pronouncements that President Lungu had already won the election.

“We therefore expect the ECZ to take a keen interest in this matter and denounce in the strongest terms any and all pronouncements that the President Edgar Lungu has already won the election unless of course there is something we do not know,” Harrington said.

PF member of the central committee Kebby Mbewe recently said President Lungu had already won the elections and that the August polls are just a constitutional matter which they are obliged to follow.

“President Edgar Chagwa Lungu has already won these elections but what we are doing is just a constitutional mandate. The constitution of this country says that after five years we have to go for elections. These elections are not basically for changing leadership, no. These elections are just a constitutional matter which we are obliged to follow. So this is a by the way election,” Mbewe said.

He added that PF was currently the favourite party for the Zambian people.

“I think you and me will agree that PF is the favourite party for the Zambian people as we speak today. And PF has made a lot of developments in the so called strongholds of UPND beginning from Western, North-Western, Southern Provinces. All we want is to increase numbers to make sure that we hammer not less than 65 percent of the votes. And most of these votes will come from the strongholds of the UPND,” Mbewe said.