Fresh polls won't cure electoral banditry - Imboela

...says unless the country's electoral process is fixed, repeating an election under the same system without correcting the electoral process would achieve little

By NATION REPORTER

CALLS for fresh elections cannot resolve the country's electoral crisis unless fundamental weaknesses in the electoral process and opposition structures are first addressed, National Democratic Congress (NDC) president Saboi Imboela.

Ms Imboela said she did not see fresh elections taking place, arguing that even if they were held, the same institutions and structures that managed the August 13 general elections would still be involved.

She said the opposition should instead use the next four to five years to rebuild its grassroots structures and develop the capacity to protect votes before, during and after elections.

"For me, to be honest with you, I don't see fresh elections happening because the people that are leading, that are ruling, they can't accept," Ms Imboela said.

She said another major challenge was that the opposition lacked sufficient infrastructure to protect its votes, adding that electoral victory in Zambia required more than simply winning at the ballot box.

"In Africa and in Zambia, it's not enough to win an election. You have to defend your win and protect the votes," she said.

Ms Imboela said opposition parties had failed to coordinate effectively before the August 13 elections, despite her repeated calls for them to establish structures in areas perceived to be ruling-party strongholds.

She said opposition mobilisation should not be viewed as a threat by other opposition parties because it ultimately contributed to challenging the ruling party.

"Any election, or rather, any mobilisation of an opposition is mobilisation towards winning the ruling party. But the opposition forgot that. They made each other enemies," Ms Imboela said.

Ms Imboela said Zambia had historically been regarded as a beacon of peace and democracy, but argued that developments surrounding the elections had distorted confidence in the electoral process.

She said the opposition should use the period before the next elections to build strong community-based structures capable of defending votes and ensuring that electoral disputes were addressed through established democratic processes.

"The whole process of winning an election in Africa is too long," Ms Imboela said. "Elections, first of all, are issues of campaigns. They're issues of elections. They're issues of vote protection."