The National Democratic Congress (NDC) faction has said that it is deeply saddened with the United Party for National Development (UPND)’s decision to petition all parliamentary seats held by the Patriotic Front.
In a statement to the media, NDC deputy national spokesperson Zuwa Sinkamba said this was never expected from the UPND.
Mr. Sinkamba said the UPND should rescind their decision, focus on economic recovery and withdraw all the petitions.
He said the election petitions are going to be a drain on the resources and the economy.
“As National Democratic Congress, NDC, we would like to bring to your attention that the UPND, through their Secretary-General, have petitioned quite a number of seats won by PF. Initially, they were about 37, however, it now seems they are going to petition all lost seats,” Mr. Sinkamba said.
“This is a very sad day for this country because, they are taking the same wrong path the PF government took through their former SG Wynter Kabimba, where they started forcing by-elections by making sitting MPs resign so that they can have majority number in Parliament,” he said.
The UPND’s sponsored high court petitions go against their plans to stabilize and recover the economy and reduce the budget deficit.
“When you look at it critically; one by-election costs about K 5 million when multiplied by all the petitions being done in the High Court, the amount is about K 360 million, and most of the cases are actually frivolous,” Mr. Sinkamba said.
“We in the NDC suggest that they build consensus with the opposition and independent MPs and amend the constitution in a way that is acceptable to every Zambian. By the time the UPND will realize that they have wasted time through court petitions, it will be two years and they will not have time to amend the Constitution,” he said.
Meanwhile, in support of the petitions, Colonel Panji Kaunda has said that the Electoral Commission of Zambia needs to be restructured in light of many petitions being filed in court.About 54 parliamentary seats countrywide have been petitioned by losing candidates in the August 12 general elections.
In an interview, Col Panji said the increase in the number of petitions of the just-ended election entails that there was something wrong with the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s monitoring system.
“I think that ECZ is going to be reconditioned as they have done to the police. I think they can do something to the ECZ. We need people who are professional, those that are not professional must go,” he said.
“Something went wrong, that’s for sure! If the way the elections were conducted is found to have been corrupt, then there is something wrong with the ECZ. They didn’t scrutinise or they didn’t monitor how the elections are supposed to be done,” he said.
“For example, Vubwi, a lot of Malawians and Mozambicans came to vote. Literally, we saw vehicles with Malawian number plates coming to vote in Vubwi Constituency. I saw vehicles with my own eyes bringing in Malawians to vote at my polling station.”
Col Panji said people have the right to petition the elections.
“You remember I complained at a certain time that there are too many voters in Vubwi who were registered. Obviously, some numbers might have come from across the borders,” he said. “Going forward, I think that ECZ must tighten their rules on elections and monitoring of elections properly because if this was done, there wouldn’t be so many people wanting to go to court.”
You said bally will fix let him fix them
We want to have 130 seats in parliament. And that we shall get without any doubt. The people Zambia understand us and believe in our grand vision for this country. We are a solid party determined to improve the welfare of Zambia. Soon we will recruit all the nurses and doctors with good working conditions. Soon all the teachers in the streets will be employed. We are abolishing all fees from grade one to University level. We are a serious party in government and we shall deliver.
Maybe the chair person of ECZ should be elected by the people directly or by an elected council and not the president. These people need to have guts and high levels of integrity.
While they are still in shock, flood them with petitions, use government resources to campaign and grab as many seats as possible. Independents are very cheap to buy. Before long boom, “one party”. The cycle continues as before. Nothing illegal.
This should be a big lesson to the political players that the playing field ought to be levelled. Now see what this is costing the nation. People should not involve themselves in electoral malpractices. Bye-elections are very expensive
I’m not surprised that Panji says Malawians voted after all although he was born in Zambia he’s hundred percent Malawian so he has many relatives there. On a serious note even the PF should have petitioned many seats but it’s no use.
Am I surprised that UPND likes wasting time on impossible missions?. No.
The president is saying the rate at which money is being moved out of the country is horrifying.
Let this get to him. THE MOST HORRIFYING THING IS HOW SLOW TO ACT THIS GLOVED FARMER IS. Even more annoying that he is excited talking about it like a movie. Who even needs to hear that?. We all know where to find Netflix if we wish to watch money heist.
And now it’s a story of petitions.
START WORKING CATTLE BOY.!
DAY11
It shall end in tears…..UPND is definitely a one term party
SO WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE VIDEO EVIDENCE OF SO CALLED MALAWIANS VOTING ? NOW YOU WANT TO CRY FOUL. YOU ARE A PATHETIC SORE LOOSER
#7FEDUP I have noticed that the Kaunda children have developed deep hatred for the PF. They are free to work with any party of their joice but hatred is not traditional in the great man’s family. Strange.
There’s a lot of immaturity in the UPND, so let’s forgive them. In one constituency an independent candidate got around 26,000, the PF 16,000 and the UPND candidate got a paltry 1,400 but he’s decided to petition. I think the person that can be said to have a genuine grievance is the runner-up. How does one explain such a whitewash?
Well ,it may make a “sad reading” but it is not illegal its well within their rights.
Correction: Its not UPND that is petitioning the results but individual aggrieved losing candidates. UPND as a party can only petition Presidential elections results at Con Court.
This matter only makes sad reading if one decides not to remember what PF did when they won the election in 2011. Then, PF decided to petition almost ALL the seats that were won by MMD. In those petitions, MMD lost a significant amount of their seats.
Therefore, what is happening today has a precedence firmly rooted into what PF themselves did in 2011.
Our only concern and hope is that the Courts will be allowed to operate professionally and make independent decisions.
There should be zero tolerance towards electro malpractice what was going on in PF was simply unacceptable were you have the Vice President publicly handing out K100 notes …you have former ministers distributing maize and declaring areas as no go.
It only makes sad reading to the corrupt minds!!
I also saw South African vehicles, Zimbabwean registered vehicles etc. Does it mean the occupants were Nationals of those countries? No. We have Zambians living in those countries driving vehicles registered in those countries giving lifts to those that could not afford driving back. So Panjis conclusion may be misplaced.
I saw this happen in 2012 and continued to 2021.
Bye elections not only fatigue the electorates, but drains on the resources. If UPND wants their mandate to remain memorable, they should quit going the PF way. Lets move forward. We have been there before, did bye elections improve lives of Zambians?
#12 Polytiko… It was for this very reason that the PF was removed. If say it’s okay simply because that’s what PF was doing, then we shall never break away from this political savagery. I thought the Upnd was here to bring a blow of fresh air not contaminated fumes. Open a new chapter for the sake of the future.
This makes reading indeed ONLY to those who elect to forget that the PF themselves did the same thing in 2011 when they won the election. So, UPND are just reading from the same script PF left behind.
What should concern citizens is how professional and credible the Courts will deal with the issues.
The aggrieved parties in these elections have a constitutional right to seek legal redress of any injustice, perceived or otherwise, that they feel happened in the 12th August election.
Panji Kaunda’s dullness does not cease to amaze me. He first says that “…a lot of Malawians and Mozambicans came to vote. Literally, we saw vehicles with Malawian number plates coming to vote in Vubwi Constituency. I saw vehicles with my own eyes bringing in Malawians to vote at my polling station.”Then again he says ” Obviously, some numbers might have come from across the borders”. These are words of an elderly person who does not seem sure of what he is saying. Yet what he forgets is the artificiality of our colonial boundaries. There are Chewas, just as other eastern tribes, in Malawi as they are in Zambia, with relatives across borders. Some of these Zambians may be earning a living in Malawi though they are still Zambian. Some of the organisations they may be working for may…
… be international NGOs with branches in both countries. Does it mean if a Zambian Chewa works for an international NGO in Malawi, then they become Malawian and cannot come back to vote in Zambia? Ba Panji ubufontini!
It sends a very bad message for UPND to question the legitimacy of the electoral process that just voted it to power. No one likes a sore winner and are better things to do. The nation needs leaders to heal and not divide once again.
Two wrongs does not make a right, whilst these things are going on, our children with degrees are panting for jobs and roaming about the streets. When will they be employed? Is this what is called politics for sure! Why can’t we make progress in one way or the other? If PF was wrong, should other politicians follow suit really!!!
Our elections are not in anyway better. Even in South, west n Nwest one would ask if rrarea those figures were geniune. Let’s not waste time.
Good move UPND. Similarly, youths, unemployed teachers, nurses and cadres should demand to be placed in formal jobs before voting in the by elections. Farmers should demand fertility at K250 before voting. Citizens should demand K50 bag of mealie price. Civil service should demand K1500 salary increase across board. Not forgetting free education for all learners. Now, that’s fare, right UPND?
All these characters are just the same crooks they have no principals, really selfish what they don’t know is that we fought for democracy against one party rule, now you want to bring back one party back so that you can be dictators in Zambia , if you lost it was unfortunate for you we all know that a lot of bad things happen during elections which you all took a part in, you all did foolish things to win including killing people.
If you question the credibility of electoral commission you should as well question how you won the elections and having your president in power now.
So Panji knows which candidate (s) the Malawians voted for? Would it be wrong to assume that even Angolans and Namibians voted too. Sometimes it’s better to keep quiet.
An entire family related to one late president was sent in foreign mission. During Lungu’s tenure their contracts expired and not renewed. Now I see this family solidly behind the Upnd accusing Lungu’s government of favoritism… now I ask was it okay to get the job because you are related to the president and not okay if another president employs his kinsmen? My answer is both are not okay. Be wary of such people.
Most of PF parliamentary seats were won with campaigns using stolen GRZ money and transport…….
There was no level playing field…….
Make the all recontest on a level playing field, they will all lose….
No more sweeping dirt under the carpet coz it does accumulate.
Let all petitions proceed.
Zambians need to change their way of thinking.
Ridiculous from UPND. Obviously they want numbers in parliament to implement their agenda and policies. But if they are good for the country, they can have bi-partisan legislation.
They are petitioning the same elections that overwhelmingly voted for their president. So if the elections were illegitimate at the parliamentary level, they should also be illegitimate at the presidential level. Please bring in genuine Change, not this s!lliness.
Col Panji what a flabby mouth!
UPND’s agenda is to have an unassailable majority in parliament so that we end up with a de-facto one party state with no checks and balances. This is to enable them to pass any piece of legislation – however unpalatable – without any challenge. Zambians gave the UPND a landslide victory which is like a blank cheque for them to do as they please. He who makes a bed of thorns must be prepared to sleep in it. So Zambians voters shouldn’t complain even if parliament decides to introduce life presidency for HH.
When PF petitioned all MMD seats it was ok. But when UPND petition the seats for the same reasons that PF used to petition it’s wrong.
Vote buying was rampant and PF thugs were literally forcing people to accept the electoral bribes.
I think all PF minions should be locked away asap
Col panji u are up to good . Bad hearted man
WHAT ABOUT THE PF MONITORS WHO WERE CHASED FROM POLLING STATIONS IN SOUTHERN PROVINCE?
ECL DECIDED NOT TO PETITION THE RESULTS BUT LOOK WHAT IS HAPPENING NOW.
In these games pf are the big fools. How do u let go elections results where your people were grossly beaten n killed on polling day? Yes people on the majority basis did not want to vote for you, however it was not through that but on vote basis.
Pf should equally petition all results were ecz and members were chased, beaten , n killed.
Pf should protect their votes equally just like Upnd has taken that step. Upnd’s step taken is right and nothing new or wrong. Wake up PF u are the biggest opposition now. Strive to remain relevant as you strive to bounce back some day
Who is UNDER FIVE NOW? Soon PF will be under zero!
Why should the Petitioning of Elections be sad? Any Election Loser has a Constitutional Right to Petition the Election Results thru the Court as long as he or she have the Evidence to show that there was malpractices and irregularities during that Election. Its up to the Judge to impartially Rule whether or not the Winner won the Election fairly or not based on the Evidence presented. These Petitions for MPs should be heard and determined within 90 days after Petitioning. Its a fair game.