Maravi

Insanity at ECZ more worrying than voter statistics - Scott

Insanity at ECZ more worrying than voter statistics - Scott
By By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Mon 31 Jan. 2011, 04:01 CAT

PF is more worried about the “insanity” at Electoral Commission of Zambia than the census results which reveal that Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces have the highest number of eligible voters, says Dr Guy Scott.

But Mike Mulongoti said it was an illusion for the Patriotic Front (PF) to continue believing that Lusaka and Copperbelt were still their strongholds.

According to preliminary results of the 2010 national census, Lusaka has the highest number of eligible voters at 19 per cent, followed by Copperbelt at 17 per cent while Northern and Eastern provinces had 12 per cent of eligible voters each.

The census results further showed that there were 6, 069,753 about 47 per cent of the total population eligible voters in the country.

According to the Zambian law, any person aged 18 years and above is eligible to vote.

Commenting on the results, Dr Scott, who is vice-president of opposition PF, said there was room for the registration of more voters in the country if the impasse, which had seen justice Florence Mumba hounded out as ECZ chairperson, was resolved.

Dr Scott said PF was positive about the revelation that its strongholds had the highest number of eligible voters.

“The insanity at ECZ is more serious and worrying than the statistics,” said Dr Scott in an interview.

“We are encouraged by the results from the census which show that our strongholds are leading the way but we join those civil society organisations who want the voter registration extended. So, whereas we are encouraged, at the same time, we have a lot of Zambians that are not registered because of this business of only having registration place at a time in one district.”

And Mulongoti said the MMD has done enough homework to regain Lusaka and Copperbelt provinces where the ruling party has been losing elections since 2001.

Mulongoti, the MMD’s chairman for elections, said the ruling party was happy with the preliminary results of the 2010 national census.

“I was on the Copperbelt and the attitudes are changing because people are seeing the development this government is taking to them,” Mulongoti said. “We are a very democratic party and our role is to persuade the people to vote for what we are doing. So, as a party, we are excited that democracy is growing.”

Mulongoti said PF should not use the 2008 election results to gauge its popularity among the urban elite.

Labels: ECZ, GUY SCOTT, MIKE MULONGOTI

posted by MrK @ 4:32 PM