Centre for Elections and Good Governance (CEG) Trustee Gershom Musonda has welcomed the election of Patriotic Front (PF)/United Party for National Developmrnt(UPND)pact candidate Watson Lumba as new Member of Parliament for Solwezi Central.
Mr Lumba polled 5, 669 against his closest rival Albert Chifita for the MMD polled 4,457 in yesterday’s by-elections. Forum for Democratic Alternative (FDA) Muhammad Kalela got 189 while Thomas Kafula got 51 votes.
Mr Musonda said in a statement to ZANIS, today, said the out come of the elections shows that the violence and negative media reports against the ruling MMD in the urban areas is benefiting the opposition while the voters in rural areas seem to appreciate the MMD government’s efforts in improving their well being.
He maintained that the reported violence in the elections such as the Solwezi Central seat are perpetuated by cadres from Lusaka and the Copperbelt provinces whose campaign teams always hold feasts prior to field work.
He added that number of voters who participated in the elections is less than the registered voters saying for this reason , Mr. Lumba should bear in mind that he is not carrying a majority vote of the entire constituency.
On the violence and the shedding of blood witnessed during campaigns between UPND/PF and MMD cadres, Mr Musonda said this led to uneven ground for competition, increased apathy and a number of spoiled votes.
He added that this has definitely made Mr Lumba to find it difficult to walk the streets of Solwezi with his head high.
” We appeal to the newly elected MP to extend a hand of friendship to his closest rival, denounce and apologise for the chaos, and wash off the human blood on his ballot papers as he walks into Parliament to convince the general public that he is a democrat,” the CEG Trustee says in a statement.
Mr.Musonda has also advised Mr Lumba to depart from the language of violence and the Language of hatred preached by a named opposition MP whose statement he said have become contrary to what the electorate expect of him as a parliamentarian.
The CEG trustee added that it is happy with with the competition between the MMD and the PF/UPND he said is a clear testimony that the winner sweated for the votes as his closest rival gave him a good run for his money.
ZANIS
Ya ala nimwabombeni chachine