.Mr. Mangani

By JULIUS PHIRI –

THE Patriotic Front (PF) in Eastern Province has welcomed the decision by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to suspend the holding of by-elections in three constituencies.

Provincial PF Chairperson Lameck Mangani said yesterday that it was important for the ECZ to allow the courts to exhaust the matters regarding the three seats that had been nullified on grounds of electoral malpractice.

“As PF in Eastern Province we welcome the postponement of the elections by the ECZ,” he said.

On Wednesday, ECZ announced the postponement of the Kasenengwa, Mkushi South and Solwezi Central Constituency by-elections in view of litigation, which was before the courts.

By-elections in the three constituencies were supposed to take place on February 25 this year.

ECZ senior public relations officer Sylvia Bwalya, however, said the dates for the Katuba parliamentary and the six local government nominations and by-elections remained unchanged.

The Kasenengwa parliamentary seat fell vacant after the Supreme Court nullified the election of Victoria Kalima for electoral malpractices.

The Supreme Court also nullified the Solwezi Central election of Lucky Mulusa and Sydney Chisenga’s Mkushi South for electoral malpractices.

The Katuba parliamentary seat fell vacant following the death of former Member of Parliament (MP) Patrick Chikusu recently, who was Ministry of Health deputy minister. Meanwhile, PF has forwarded three names to the Central Committee for adoption.