Chongwe PF geared for peaceful polls
By NATION REPORTER THE Patriotic Front in Chongwe constituency is set for district elections which will be violence-free in a fortnight because the party is mature in the area, constituency vice chairperson Oscar Kaleya said yesterday.
Mr Kaleya, who is a former Chongwe central ward councillor, said in an interview with the Daily Nation that the PF in Chongwe was mature and would again ‘’record another exemplary democratic process’’ during the district elections.
"We are set for the Patriotic Front (PF) district elections to be held in a fortnight's time. The district has continued to exhibit maturity and we hope to record another exemplary democratic process. My earnest appeal to the officials and the electorate is that we must show the other political parties that we do not need external help to conduct free and fair intra-party elections,’’ he said.
Mr Kaleya, who would contest the position of district chairperson in the coming elections, appealed to all the aspiring candidates to respect the will of the people.
"The message of the PF leadership is very clear. They have stood firm on the need for a nonviolent electoral process. We are a peace loving party and as such our deeds must be in tandem with our ideology.
President Lungu has always called on us to be smart as people will not vote for a violent party. We promise the President and the entire PF leadership that we will live above board when it comes to smooth transition of power even among our lower party organs,’’ he said.
He said the recently held constituency elections were peaceful and that trend would continue since there was no need to fight for positions because public service demanded to respect the will of the people.
He appealed to all political parties in the country to emulate the free-and-fair intra-party democracy exhibited by the ruling party.
"The PF way of doing things must serve as a point of reference in intra-party and inter party politics. We expect the pending by-elections in the nation to be violence-free to allow the people to freely exercise their democratic rights," he said.