DIE IS CAST

THE die is cast as Zambians troop to the polling stations tomorrow to cast their votes in the tripartite elections. Aspiring candidates for the Presidential, parliamentary and local government elections have been crisscrossing the country and districts canvassing for votes. With today marking the official end of the campaign period – 18 hours – we hope the electorate would have received the messages from the contestants and be left alone to decide. If they have not been able to convince the electorate during the campaign period, they should for now take the back seat and see where they went wrong. Zambians must be allowed to cast their votes in peace and not be subjected to any form of violence or intimidation that marked the campaign period in some areas. They must be allowed to exercise their democratic and constitutional right to elect leaders of their choice in a peaceful manner. That is the right that the country’s founding fathers sacrificed their lives for and anyone trying to create trouble must not be spared. We now expect the political contenders to show their maturity by playing to the rules and let the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) carryout its mandate of conducting the elections. Police Inspector General Kakoma Kanganja yesterday assured that the command as a law enforcement agency stands ready to ensure that peace and order prevails before, during and after the election. We are glad that Mr Kanganja emphasised on the need for people not to post results on social media before the official announcement from the ECZ. Such conduct is what can turn an otherwise peaceful and violent-free election into something too ghastly to contemplate. Any political party that resorts to do so does surely not mean well for the country. Since the parties have agents at all polling stations, they should have the patience to let the ECZ announce the official results. Mr Kanganja said from the past elections, it has been noticed that some people tend to alarm the nation by posting alarming and unverified statements on social media as well as posting unverified results. We therefore call on the law enforcement agencies working with ZICTA to be alert to such misguided people who might want to create chaos through such illegal activities. The government of President Edgar Lungu has promised that it would ensure that the elections are free and fair as well as peaceful. All Zambians have committed themselves to peaceful elections and want to see peace and unity prevail after the voting tomorrow. And when the campaign period ends officially, let people be allowed to enjoy their sleep so that they wake up refreshed on the polling day for the task ahead.