The die is cast
Published On June 29, 2015 » 1956 Views» By Administrator Times » HOME SLIDE SHOW, SHOWCASE
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•ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia officials sort out election material in readiness for the by-election for Petauke Central Constituency in Eastern Province.  Picture by CHUSA SICHONE

•ELECTORAL Commission of Zambia officials sort out election material in readiness for the by-election for Petauke Central Constituency in Eastern Province. Picture by CHUSA SICHONE

By Austin Kaluba –

Today, Zambians in three constituencies – Malambo, Petauke Central and Mulobezi will exercise their right to vote as they participate in the much awaited by-elections to choose leaders to represent them in Parliament.
As the saying goes the best man wins, the candidates who will emerge victorious will be given the mandate to represent the people in Parliament upholding democracy promoted by Greeks in ancient Greece.
As the Republican President Edgar Lungu said recently, the losing candidates whether from the opposition or ruling party should accept the results and lick their wounds.
It has become a tradition in this country to reject election results if one loses. In short some misguided contenders only accept results when they are in their favour.
President Lungu, UPND leader Hakainde Hichilema and UNIP’s Tilyenji Kaunda have all drummed up support for their respective candidate.
Though all the constituencies have raised almost equal interest among Zambian citizens, the Petauke Central seat has a slight upper hand in wetting people’s appetite for the results.
The reason is simple, out of the three candidates who have stood is the ‘iron lady’ of Zambian politics Dora Siliya, who recently defected from the former ruling party, MMD to the PF.
Her opponents are Allan Zulu from UPND and Ignasio Phiri from UNIP.(From Page 1)
FOR Malambo Constituency that falls in Mambwe District, a total of 28,088 eligible voters are today going to the polls to choose their area MP after having no representation in Parliament for more than two years.
Thus these polls are crucial to enable the electorates choose their preferred candidate among the four.
The quartet include Patriotic Front (PF)’s Jacob Shuma, Peter Simon Phiri also known as ‘PPS’ who is standing on UPND, Florence Mayopa, the only female candidate who is eyeing the seat as an independent and UNIP’s Jairos Mchenga.
The constituency has 13 wards, with 49 streams in 35 polling stations.
The parliamentary by-election arose after then MMD MP Maxwell Mwale lost the seat over electoral malpractices committed in the 2011 general elections which also ushered PF into Government.
The PF upon winning the September 20th 2011 polls, successfully petitioned Mr Mwale’s election results.
The third constituency which is also in the news is Mulobezi in western Province which is one of the 17 constituencies in the area.
The Mulobezi seat fell vacant after the nullification of the seat which was held by UPND’s Hastings Sililo.
In April this year, the Supreme Court allowed Mr Sililo and two other former lawmakers namely Dora Siliya for Petauke Central Constituency and Maxwell Mwale for Malambo Constituency to recontest their seats.
According to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) register of voters per constituency for 2014, Mulobezi has a total number of 13, 662 registered voters out of which 6, 286 are men and 7, 376 are women.
The constituency has 32 polling stations in six wards namely Sichili, Luamuloba, Kamanga, Nawinda, Machile and Mulobezi.
On May 28 this year, five candidates successfully filed in their nomination papers for the Mulobezi Parliamentary By-election.
The five candidates are Green Party’s Esau Mwanza, UPND’s Hastings Sililo, Alliance for Democracy and Development‘s Collins Mbangu, PF’s Patricia Mulasikwanda and UNIP’s Alfred Mandumbwa
By tomorrow July 1, the winners will be celebrating victory while the losers would be cursing their luck.
As the saying goes, many are called few are chosen.

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