68 losing parliamentary candidates petition

68 losing parliamentary candidates petition
By Maluba Jere
Thu 03 Nov. 2011, 09:10 CAT

SIXTY-EIGHT losing parliamentary candidates for various constituencies have petitioned the Lusaka High Court to nullify the election of their opponents, citing electoral malpractice.

Of the 68 petitions which have since been allocated and are awaiting hearing in the courts of law, 50 were filed by the ruling Patriotic Front while the opposition MMD petitioned five seats.

The opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) has petitioned 11 seats while two seats have been petitioned by independent candidates.

The Eastern Province has the highest number of petitions with 18 seats being petitioned. Fourteen seats are in Western Province, 10 are from North Western and five from Northern Province.

The seats being petitioned by the PF include Ikelengi in North Western Province, Chipata Central, Lukulu West, Lunte, Livingstone, Chitambo and Kafulafuta.

Others are Luampa in Western Province, Nyimba in Eastern Province, Zambezi West, Kaoma Central, Chisamba, Feira and Solwezi Central among others.

The MMD have petitioned Kaoma Central, Mangango, Nalikwanda, Kanyama Ward in Lusaka and Lukulu East in Western Province.

The seats that have been petitioned by the UPND include Solwezi Central, Livingstone, Petauke Central, Mufumbwe, Kabompo, Chadiza, Mwandi, Milanzi, Chisamba, Liuwa and Mutenda ward in Chingola.

Most of the petitioners have asked the High Court to nullify the election of members of parliament for those respective constituencies on ground that they were not dully elected.

They have asked the court to declare the election results null and void and that the costs for the petitions should be borne by the respondents who are the elected parliamentarians.

The country on September 20, this year held general elections which saw Michael Sata elected Republican President.

The PF scooped 60 parliamentary seats while the MMD won 54 seats. The UPND won 28 seats, while FDD and Alliance for Democracy and Development got a seat each with three seats going to independent candidates.