By MAIMBO MWEEMBA
Caritas Zambia Chingola Coordinator Eungene Mulenga says they are concerned about the number of seats that are been nullified.
Mr Mulenga said that it is in candidates right to petition election results if any iiregularities were observed before, and during the polls.
He said the question that begs to be answered is where was the Electoral Commission of Zambia when all the perceived malpractices were committed.
“Our other concern is that this is a threat to democracy, we have seen that most of these seats have been contested by the ruling party, there will be no checks and balances in Parliament if all Parliamentarians are from the ruling side, the nullification of these seats are coming with a lot of negatives,” he said.
Mr Mulenga also said that they are claims that the country does not have resources in the national coffers, thereby questioning where the money to host by-elections will be sourced from.
He said that it is in candidates rights to petition unfair elections but the rate at which the nullifications are happening is worrying more especially that it is targeting the opposition.
Mr Mulenga said that Parliament needs to be balanced with representation from both the ruling and opposition for the house to have meaningful debates.
Seats that have been nullified are Kabushi, Kwacha, Lunte, Kasama Central, Nakonde, Chimwemwe and Lubasenshi constituencies all were occupied by the opposition PF.
