ZEA hails ECZ for conducting the presidential elections within the law

The Zambia Electoral Alliance (ZEA) has commended the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for conducting the 20^th January 2015 presidential elections within the confines of the laws of the country.

ZEA spokesperson Guess Nyirenda said despite the commission being faced with a lot of logistical challenges ECZ managed to conduct the presidential elections as stipulated in the Zambian constitution.

Mr Nyirenda noted that in less than 90 days after the demise of late President Michael Sata the commission succeeded in preparing the country for elections in a comprehensive way.

He stressed that the transparent and professional conduct exhibited by ECZ has inspired confidence in the electoral process among the stakeholders and the electorates.

Mr Nyirenda said despite the constraint of time the commission managed to recruit and train election staff in readiness for the national polls.

Meanwhile ZEA has accused the media of seemingly siding with some political candidates in the just ended presidential elections.

Mr Nyirenda cited ZNBC as one of the media institutions that only showed footage of campaign rallies for the ruling party and just read statements for the opposition instead of showing the rallies.

He further stated that media personal were intimidated by some political parties that participated in the January 20^th presidential elections while the alliance also received reports of newsroom staff being transferred especially those perceived to be covering opposition leaders.

And Mr Nyirenda said the continued trend of traditional leaders endorsing candidates was a potential source of conflict.

The alliance expressed sadness with some traditional leaders in Eastern, Muchinga, Northern and Southern provinces for openly endorsing their preferred candidates.

Mr Nyirenda said the trend of endorsing presidential candidates should be discouraged and put to an end as it was coercive.