{"id":3917,"date":"2021-06-30T15:27:35","date_gmt":"2021-06-30T15:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/?p=3917"},"modified":"2021-06-30T15:27:37","modified_gmt":"2021-06-30T15:27:37","slug":"press-statement-electoral-group-of-eminent-persons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/?p=3917","title":{"rendered":"PRESS STATEMENT: ELECTORAL GROUP OF EMINENT PERSONS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>30<sup>th<\/sup> June 2021<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>PRESS STATEMENT<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(For Immediate Release)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Electoral Group of\nEminent Persons wishes to join all peace-loving persons and organizations that\nare calling for a peaceful general elections on 12<sup>th<\/sup> August, 2021. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is very\ndisappointing that after 57 years of independence, Zambian politics have\ndeteriorated so embarrassingly in the eyes of peace loving Zambians as\nevidenced by the current happenings in this period preceding the elections characterized\nby violence, use of vulgar language and cyber bulling to mention but a few. This\nsituation, if not arrested, has the potential to lead to anarchy and\nconsequently threaten the Peace the country has enjoyed for a long time.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The EGEP, therefore,\ncondemns in the strongest terms the recent violence between the major political\nparties experienced in various parts of the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is the view of the\nEGEP that leaders have influence and power over their followers. Their words\nand deeds affect their followers and are taken as a model. Given this view, we\nhave a conviction that leaders of the\n&nbsp;two main parties i.e the Patriotic Front\nand United Party for National Development should publicly address the nation and\ndeclare their desire that the country should experience peace before, during\nand after elections. This action, we believe, may bring about the following\nresults among others:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Facilitate for a conducive environment for 2021\nelections<\/li><li>Foster unity and patriotism in the country<\/li><li>Reduce violence by promoting constructive dialogue\namong the parties concerned<\/li><li>Discourage hate speech, insults and cyber bulling in\nthe electoral process.<\/li><li>Eliminate inter and intra-party violence<\/li><li>Reduce post elections results disputes<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n<p>Let us all as one\npeople promote and sustain Peace in the Nation. If we&nbsp; don\u2019t&nbsp;\ntake action, and act now,&nbsp;\nposterity will judge us harshly. We only have one Zambia and no other\ncountry to run to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May we remind all those aspiring to lead this country that we are in\nmourning of our Founding Father Dr. Kenneth David Kaunda who led this nation in\npeace and unity. All regional and international leaders look at Zambia as an\noasis of peace. We want to urge all the leaders to honour our late President Dr\nKenneth David Kaunda by ensuring peace and unity in the country all the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Long live&nbsp; Zambia!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God Bless Zambia! <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Mrs Marian Munyinda <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chairperson EGEP <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>About EGEP<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Electoral Group of Eminent Persons (EGEP) is an observatory and advisory body to the\nElectoral Commission of Zambia. The EGEP\u2019s aim is to observe the country\u2019s\nelectoral processes and provide an independent public opinion as and when need\nbe.&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It is very disappointing that after 57 years of independence, Zambian politics have deteriorated so embarrassingly in the eyes of peace loving Zambians as evidenced by the current happenings in this period preceding the elections characterized by violence, use of vulgar language and cyber bulling to mention but a few. This situation, if not arrested, has the potential to lead to anarchy and consequently threaten the Peace the country has enjoyed for a long time.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[93,98,99],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-press-release","category-public-notice"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3917"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3918,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3917\/revisions\/3918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.elections.org.zm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}