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Zambia Vote Rigging Allegation Dismissed

   Peter Clottey 26 May 2010

   Zambiaâs  information minister has dismissed accusations that a former
   president  and  the  electoral commission will rig next yearâs general
   elections to keep the ruling party in power.

   Ronnie Shikapwasha told VOA the electoral commission is an independent
   body mandated to organize transparent elections.

   âFirst  of  all,  it  must  be  dismissed  with  the  contempt that it
   deserves.  There  is  no way (former) President (Fredrick) Chiluba has
   nothing  to  do  with the electoral commission, has nothing to do with
   the  government  and,  therefore,  he  cannot  be  considered  in  any
   situation to do anythingâ¦the electoral commission is a high integrity
   organization that Mr. Lubinda is telling lies upon,â he said.

   Zambia's former President Frederick Chiluba

   Given Lubinda, spokesman for the main opposition Patriotic Front, said
   Zambians  will  not  allow  former  President  Fredrick  Chiluba,  the
   government, and the electoral body to rig the 2011 general elections.

   Lubinda has often accused former President Chiluba of rigging previous
   election  results  in  favor  of  the  ruling  Movement for Multiparty
   Democracy (MMD).

   But,   information  minister  Shikapwasha  said  the  accusations  are
   preposterous.

   âIf  he  has  a  complaint,  he should have gone ahead and tabled this
   complaint  in  order  for  the  electoral  commission and, indeed, the
   courts of law to deal with it in Zambia,â Shikapwasha said.

   Local  media  quoted  opposition  figure  Lubinda  as  saying, âthe PF
   supporters  have since advised their Leader, Mr. (Michael) Sata, to go
   on  a  self-imposed  exile so that his supporters are left to directly
   deal  with  the ECZ (electoral commission) if they attempt to engineer
   the 2011 elections.â

   Main opposition Patriotic Front (PF) leader, Michael Sata

   He  also warned there would be anarchy if the government allows former
   President Chiluba to rig next yearâs election.

   But,  Shikapwasha  said  the opposition party is to blame for previous
   election irregularities.

   âThe  PF  party  (members)  are  very  good  at  rigging the elections
   themselves.  In the 2006 elections, we discovered that certain polling
   stations  were  receiving  votes  from other people from other polling
   stations.  Specifically,  what  he is trying to do is to turn away the
   attention  of  the  people from the PF themselves to other people that
   are totally innocent,â Shikapwasha said.

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