Violent clashes ahead of crucial by-elections

Tensions ahead of four critical by-elections in Zambia have seen sporadic violence erupt between ruling party and opposition supporters in the run-up to Thursday's polls. The ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) is hoping to gain an outright majority in parliament, while the opposition is desperate to bolster its numbers after losing some of its legislators through floor-crossing and a court ruling stripping an MP of his seat. Analysts said the clashes were a measure of how much was at stake in the by-elections. At least one parliamentarian, opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) legislator Crispin Sibetta, has been arrested, scores of people have been injured and property damage estimated at millions of Kwacha has been wrought. Police have called for calm, and appealed to "warring factions" to resolve their differences at the ballot box. The elections are taking place in parts of the northwestern province of Zambia, Western province and the Copperbelt region - areas which have not traditionally favoured the MMD. The ruling party has pulled out all the stops in its campaign, with both President Levy Mwanawasa and Vice President Nevers Mumba making trips to the contested constituencies. "What is key in these particular by-elections ... is that the MMD wants a sound majority in parliament, having come in as the whipping boys in 2001, when the opposition were in the majority," said Bishop Paul Mususu, the spokesperson of the influential Oasis Forum. The Oasis Forum comprises the three main church bodies in the country - the Christian Council of Zambia (CCZ), the Episcopal Council of Zambia (ECZ) and the Evangelical Fellowship of Zambia (EFZ) - as well as the Law Association of Zambia (LAZ). Fred Mutesa, a political analyst from the University of Zambia's (UNZA) Department of Development Studies, underlined the importance of the by-elections to the ruling party and the opposition. "The bottom line is Mr. Mwanawasa has suffered a credibility crisis since he came to power in 2001, and he is desperate to get this [parliamentary majority] at all costs. The opposition want the seats [equally desperately] because they have seen their numbers in parliament reduced as more and more of their members are poached [by government]. However, the ... violence must come to an end," Mutesa said. Instances of violence included a clash on Wednesday in the mining town of Mufulira, more than 200 km north of the capital, Lusaka, which saw hundreds of youths pelting each other with stones for more than an hour, police said. In the western and northwestern provinces, where three seats fell vacant after two opposition legislators defected and one had his election nullified by the courts, police had to move in to quell violence that left scores injured and property damaged. Further inflaming discord were allegations that the issuing of identity documents, called National Registration Cards (NRC), was being conducted in a partisan manner. NRCs are a requirement for being issued a voter's card. "An adult Zambian is supposed to be in possession of an NRC and it is worrying when you see people getting NRCs a week or two before an election. Maybe the answer could lie in halting the issuance of NRCs months before an election," said police spokeswoman Brenda Muntemba. "Our appeal is that the political opponents should dialogue instead of fighting ... that will make our job easier," Muntemba added. The Zambian parliament has 159 seats, of which the MMD currently holds 72, while its closest rival, the UPND, has 44. "What an MMD win will basically mean is that the Zambian parliament would be a de facto one-party parliament ... I think it is important for Mwanawasa to have such a parliament in case the [new] constitution ... has to go to parliament instead of a constituent assembly, [which] civil society has been fighting for," Bishop Mususu told IRIN.