Don’t swear in election winner until petitions are over - Rev Mwanza

Don’t swear in election winner until petitions are over - Rev Mwanza
By Sututu Katundu
Fri 05 Feb. 2010, 04:00 CAT

THE Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) has proposed that the president-elect should not be sworn in until all contentious issues raised by participating parties are cleared by the courts.

Appearing before the parliamentary committee on legal affairs, governance, human rights and gender matters chaired by Mazabuka Central member of parliament Gary Nkombo on Tuesday, EFZ executive director Reverend Pukuta Mwanza recommended that the returning officer in the presidential elections should declare the winning candidate but the winner should not be sworn in until issues raised by participating parties are sorted out by the courts within 90 days.

He said in case of a petition against the results, the winning candidate should not be sworn in and the Chief Justice should not preside over the petition but his deputy.

Rev Mwanza said this would help to reduce post-election violence in the country.

He said it would lessen suspicions with delays in releasing election results and the rushed declaration and swearing in ceremony of the perceived winner.

Rev Mwanza said the date for general elections should be determined by the Constitution.

He said the Election Day should also be declared a public holiday in an election year to maximise voter turnout.

He urged the government to show political will in improving the country's electoral system and allow the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to be independent to enable people develop confidence in the electoral system and subsequently enhance their active participation in elections.

Rev Mwanza said ECZ should be adequately funded by the Ministry of Finance and National Planning and the donor community.

He said there was need for a new constitution which could guarantee free and fair elections and make it easier for the new legislation to be enacted.

He said the monitoring of elections should begin the moment campaigns start, which is usually three weeks from the announcement of the election date.

He said in the event that the election date is not enshrined in the Republican constitution, the ECZ should announce the election date for presidential, parliamentary and local government, rather than the president.

Other recommendations include the fact that the 50 per cent plus one threshold must be adopted for the presidential candidate to win an election to ensure that he is popularly elected.

He said it was imperative that ECZ devises a system of getting results quicker and in a transparent manner using air transport where rural constituencies were inaccessible due to bad road networks and inaccessibility during the rain season or that results be transmitted directly from the counting centres.
He proposed that elections be held in October before the rain season to avoid problems associated with bad terrain in most parts of the country.

Rev Mwanza said there should be consensus on appointees to sit on the electoral commission in terms of institutions such as the church, civil society organizations, political parties, the House of Chiefs and eminent persons to ensure wider participation of key interest groups.

He said state security forces like the police and army should play a non-partisan role and provide security to all participating political parties.

Rev Mwanza said issues associated with holding and conducting public rallies should not be biased against the opposition.

He called for a review on the conduct of elections and election laws to ensure an acceptable system and avoid loss of credibility by the public, which had resulted in apathy during elections.

He said political party campaigns should be issue based as opposed to attacking personalities.

He proposed that punitive measures be imposed on candidates that personalised campaigns.

Rev Mwanza urged the government and Parliament to use recommendations from the Electoral Reform Technical Committee (ERTC) before enacting the new constitution.

On the need for delimitation of constituencies, Rev Mwanza said the process should coincide with the census 2010 to match geographical population by location.

He said the voter registration exercise should be continuous to enable Zambians who reach voting age participate in an election and registered voters who may have lost their cards to have them replaced.

He said the option of using National Registration Cards (NRC) may provide a better alternative to the use of voters cards in an election.

He said the buying of voters cards from those perceived as supporters of other political parties should be criminalised and legislation should provide punitive measures to ensure no one is disenfranchised.

Rev Mwanza recommended that a more decentralised system with mobile facilities be made available at community level to reduce time spent to get NRCs and the dangers associated with alleged malpractices.

Rev Mwanza added that the issuance of NRCs would be easier if the issuance of birth certificates was decentralised so that mothers received their children's certificates from the clinics they delivered from to minimise the difficulties in getting additional birth details.