Ambassador of the United States to Zambia Mark Storella says that Zambians should decide if they want to do away with by-elections.
Storella observes that if citizens want to want to halt the frequency of by-elections, they should look to amend the constitution.
“A lot of has been said about by-elections but ultimately the final decision lies with the Zambians,” he said. “Zambians can use the on-going constitution making process to change the status quo and do it using the law.”
He constitution, “Some say it is in the constitution but it is up to what Zambians want.”
Since the PF took over power 18 months ago Zambia has seen a record number of by-elections after the ruling party targeted 50 parliamentary seats.
Apart from the 50 petitioned seats, the PF has also been successful in forcing new by-elections after seats are vacated by a Member of Parliament deciding to defect from the opposition to the ruling party. Often these opposition MPs are enticed with the awarding of deputy minister positions in the government.
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