Political parties under the Zambia Center for Inter-party Dialogue (ZCID) wish to have rejected the nomination fees announced by the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) for the 2021 General Elections.
ZCID Board Chairperson Jackson Silavwe said the decision has been arrived at following the meeting held by political parties today because the fees are above the minimum wage and higher than the food basket, hence ordinary Zambians are automatically excluded from participating in the elections.
“As submitted earlier to ECZ, the political parties still maintain that the fees are astronomical and at variance with the principles and tenets of democracy.”
“They are way above the minimum wage and higher than the food basket which means that ordinary Zambians are automatically excluded from participating in the elections,” Mr. Silavwe said.
Mr. Silavwe stated that the political parties have made resolutions which have since been communicated to ECZ indicating that the fees be reduced by 50% based on the 2016 fee structure, and that political parties are with immediate effect, withdrawing from the political parties’ liaison committee of ECZ until their demands are met.
He added that other resolutions are that the political parties shall embark on a vigorous nationwide campaign to demand the reduction of nomination fees under the hashtag #Nominationfeesmustfall.
“That we demand the resignation of all the ECZ Commissioners for refusing, ignoring and failing to generate consensus on nomination fees for 2021 and that we reserve the right to seek judicial redress on this matter if not resolved soon,” he stated.
On Tuesday, the Electoral Commission of Zambia announced that it has revised downwards the proposed nomination fees for the 2021 General Elections that are scheduled to be held on 12th August, 2021.
Commission Public Relations Manager Margaret Chimanse said Male Presidential candidates will be required to pay K95, 000 from the earlier proposed K150, 000 while female candidates will pay K75, 000, the Youth and Persons with disabilities will be required to pay K60, 000.