Zambian churches urge political parties to accept election results

Published: 2006-10-04

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (CNS) -- Zambia's bishops and other church leaders have urged the country's political parties to accept the election results in which President Levy Mwanawasa won a second five-year term. Noting that "each election comes with issues that are contested by the political players," the Zambia Episcopal Conference, Council of Churches and Evangelical Fellowship urged "the political leaders and their supporters who may be aggrieved by the results not to resort to violence but to remain calm and use peaceful means of redress." In a joint Oct. 3 statement from the capital, Lusaka, the church leaders also urged "all those charged with the duty of handling electoral complaints and petitions to deal with these cases expeditiously so that justice is served and not delayed unnecessarily." Earlier that day, Zambia's electoral commission announced the results of the southern African country's presidential, parliamentary and local elections.

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