By CHUSA SICHONE –
THE Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has urged political parties participating in the forthcoming presidential by-election to put their “houses in order” before the filing in of nominations on December 17-19.
ECZ chairperson Irene Mambilima said at a media briefing in Lusaka yesterday that the commission would not extend the nomination time-table based on the failure by any political party to be ready to file in their nomination papers.
“I wish to take this opportunity to remind all the political parties that in terms of the law, there are no independent candidates in a presidential by-election. Every candidate must be adopted by a political party or sponsored by a political party and a political party can only adopt or sponsor one candidate.
“So in view of what has been happening out there, which we have been informed from your stories in the Press, I wish to call on all political parties to put their houses in order and ensure that only one aspiring candidate per political party will represent that party in the forthcoming elections,” she said.
Justice Mambilima said where there are issues needing to be resolved, the Commission expected that the respective political parties resolve them before nominations.
“My appeal is to those political parties who now seem to have two or more candidates like PF and MMD to resolve their issues before nominations because only one person can be a candidate for a political party in the elections,” she said.
The political parties were given ample time and thus the nomination time-table would remain unchanged as the Republican Constitution clearly stated that the elections be held within 90 days from the day of the President’s demise.
Justice Mambilima, however, said the Commission might consider extending the nomination period in the event that the number of aspiring candidates exceeded 10 as it could only manage to attend to three candidates per day.
So far the Forum for Democratic Alternatives, Green Party, Forum for Democracy and Development, National Restoration Party, 4th Revolution and United Party for National Development had confirmed their time for filing their candidates’ nominations.
The Commission would next week meet all aspiring presidential candidates to brief them on the nomination process and requested them to inform the ECZ on the date when their candidates intended to lodge in their nomination papers.
Justice Mambilima announced that the Commission had set December 28, 2014 to January 3, 2015 as the period voters who had lost their voters’ cards or had them destroyed would have them replaced at four centres in each constituency ahead of the January 20, 2015 elections.
Justice Mambilima further said printing of ballot papers would be done by Renform CC of South Africa following clearance by the Zambia Public Procurement Authority to directly contract the firm.
Justice Mambilima said the transmission of the presidential by-election results from the polling station would be done physically and not electronically and that the 6,456 polling stations used in 2011 would still be utilized as the findings of the delimitation exercise were still being compiled.