UPND calls for ECZ chair to quit misplaced – YALI

By PETER SICHALICALLS by UPND for Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) chairperson Esau Chulu to resign are misplaced, Young African Leaders initiative (YALI) Executive Director Andrew Ntewewe has said.Mr Ntewewe said the chairperson of ECZ is not responsible for its day to day operations but instead presides over policy matters of the organisation.He said the challenges faced by ECZ during voter registration can be directed to the Director for voter registration and his voter registration counterpart.Mr Ntewewe said UPND should instead join calls by YALI for the firing of the two directors for uneven distribution of registration kit.“It is erroneous and misplaced to call for the chairperson who has presided over peaceful elections including the transition elections in 2011,” Mr Ntewewe said.Mr Ntewewe said UPND is on record of calling for resignation of all the chairpersons and directors that have been at ECZ but they have constantly lost elections.“UPND has since time in memorial been calling for resignation of chairpersons at ECZ but they constantly lost the elections so the problem is not ECZ but UPND that has been constantly rejected by the Zambian people,” Mr Ntewewe said.He said ECZ will not help any political party to win an election therefore it was important for UPND to convince Zambians who have continuously rejected it because of bitterness to accept them.He said UPND has continuously attacked ECZ to prepare the minds of Zambians so that they can accuse ECZ of corruption in an event they lose an election.“All the statements UPND has been issuing have been about ECZ preparing to rig an election, to discredit it in advance so that they can cause chaos and instability when they lose next year,” he said.Mr Ntewewe said the broader agenda of the UPND has been to cause civil unrest next year because they have already sensed defeat.