Green Party secretary general Gideon Muzyamba says political violence should be condemned in the strongest sense as it works against the principle of political democracy while United Party for National Development Cornelius Mweetwa has challenged all political players taking part in the by-elections to compete on a fair platform that is free of political violence. SOME opposition political parties have called on all political players to refrain from violence and observe peace in the forthcoming Lubasenshi and Solwezi West by-elections.
Speaking in an interview with the Lusaka Star, Green Party secretary general Gideon Muzyamba said political violence should be condemned in the strongest sense as it worked against the principle of political democracy.
Mr. Muzyamba urged political party leaders to show maturity and adopt the principle of nonviolence in order to protect their members and the electorates.
“Violence takes place because leaders in these political parties have lost touch of what politics should be. The violent nature of the people is usually created by the leadership.
“As the Green Party, we are praying that people will adopt the principle of nonviolence. We do not want to see people carry weapons as witnessed previously in other by-elections,” he explained.
And United Party for National Development (UPND) deputy spokesperson Cornelius Mweetwa has called on the Zambia Police Service to ensure that adequate security is provided to members of the public during the by-election period.
Mr. Mweetwa challenged all political players taking part in the by-elections to compete on a fair platform that is free of political violence.
“This should be a peaceful campaign, and we want the Police to do a good job like they have done before in the previous by-elections.
“I don’t see the need for people to starting fighting, fighting about what? We are one people, where there is an opportunity to compete, let us compete on an equal platform and continue providing good leadership to our country,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) spokesperson Chris Akufuna said ECZ had put up mechanisms to ensure that there are no clashes among political parties during the forthcoming filling in of nominations for Lubansenshi and Solwezi West Parliamentary by elections on Wednesday, 26th August 2015.
ZNBC reports that Mr. Akufuna said ECZ would ensure that all political parties stick to their appointed times of nomination and immediately leave the nomination centres to avoid clashes between supporters of different parties.
ECZ set Thursday, September 24,2015 as the date on which to hold the Parliamentary by-elections in both Lubasenshi and Solwezi West Constituencies.
The Lubansenshi Constituency fell vacant following the nullification of the election of Member of Parliament Patrick Mucheleka by the Supreme Court while the Solwezi West vacancy was necessitated by the death of Humphrey Mwanza on July 3.
Opposition call for violence free by-elections
