Mon, 13 Mar 2017 11:22:50 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
THE Commonwealth has no power to reverse the election of President Edgar Lungu because it was among the international bodies that monitored the 2016 elections and declared it credible, free and fair, PF deputy spokesperson Frank Bwalya has said.
Mr. Bwalya said the misrepresentation that was being portrayed to the world that the UPND won the 2016 general elections and that their victory was stolen will not materialise because it was based on ‘‘lies, incredible deception and wishful thinking’’ that President Lungu’s election would be reversed.
He said the portrayal by some media houses that the Commonwealth delegation quizzed Vice President Inonge Wina over the election
petition by the UPND and its outcome was baseless as the Commonwealth could not sink so low as to interrogate Ms. Wina when the adjudication was done by the courts of law whose judgment was in public domain and could be obtained from the courts.
He questioned the credibility of the story and the inconsistencies therein, saying the same Commonwealth which was being accused of pursuing the petition outcome was among international bodies
which monitored the 2016 general elections.
“The Commonwealth cannot go to the Vice President to query the outcome of the election petition because the courts of law that came up with the verdict are there and the ruling is in public domain which the international body could have obtained from court. This body monitored the elections, declared them free and fair and congratulated President Lungu for the victory.
“However, we are not surprised by these manipulations because we know that these are just ill-conceived intentions aimed at creating an impression that the UPND won the presidential election and that the victory was stolen from them but this will not work,” Mr. Bwalya said.
He accused the UPND of using the claim that it had won the 2016 election to psyche its followers across the country to believe that their victory was stolen so that they did not give up but turn out in numbers to vote for the party in 2021 with a conviction that the party was stronger than the PF.
“The UPND will go into the 2021 with the same claim that it won the 2016 elections as a way of psyching people in its strongholds that its vote was stolen last year and in order to counter the opposition from the ruling party and safeguard their vote. They need to vote “en masse” with the hope that by so doing, it will not lose its voters from the previous election,” he said.
