By CHARITY MOONGA –

POLITICAL parties contesting the three parliamentary by-elections have expressed confidence of winning the seats ahead of voting on June 30.
Voters in Petauke and Malambo in Eastern Province and Mulobezi in Western Province are preparing to vote for their representatives in Parliament.
Patriotic Front (PF) secretary general Davis Chama said in an interview that the ruling party was confident it would emerge victorious following a strong campaign the party had embarked on to woo voters.
“So far the campaign is good and we are winning,” said Mr Chama, who has been campaigning for PF candidate Patricia Mulasikwanda in Mulobezi.
Mr Chama condemned acts of violence which he attributed to ferrying of cadres by some opposition parties and called for an end to such practices.
“The election must be peaceful, issue-based and people should avoid character assassination,” he said.
UPND deputy spokesperson Edwin Lifwekelo said the party’s chances of winning the by-elections were very high.
“We are confident of winning. We were second from PF in the last election and are confident that as long as the playing field is level, we are winning,” he said.
Mr Lifwekelo also called for issue- based campaigns and condemned the violence in Mulobezi, which he said was still going on at a lower scale.
Apart from the PF and UPND who had put forward candidates in all the three by-elections, there is also UNIP, Green Party and Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) who have candidates for the polls.
Meanwhile, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has urged the political parties to uphold and abide by the electoral code of conduct.
ECZ spokesperson Chris Akufuna said preparations for the three June 30 by-elections had reached an advanced stage.
He said ballots for the by-elections had been printed, verified and were awaiting distribution anytime.