Our PVT is delivering reassuring results to us – UPND

Opposition United Party for National Development (UPND) says its Parallel Voter Tabulation (PVT) is constantly delivering reassuring results but has called for patience.

The opposition party has called on all political parties that took part in January 20 Presidential election to refrain from putting pressure on the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) to release results.

ECZ on Wednesday suspended the announcing of results to enable people from the 51 polling stations in six districts to cast their votes today. There was however pressure from other stakeholders that ECZ goes ahead with the announcement as there was anxert from members of public to have the results.

But UPND in a satement later said there was need to exercise patient saying releasing of results prematurely could generate confusion.

Below is the statement from UPND issued by campaign manager Dipak Patel:

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

21 January 2015

We call on all political parties to refrain from putting pressure on the ECZ to release results even while the votes are still being cast and counted. Premature release of results when important numbers are outstanding may only serve to generate confusion and be counterproductive to ensuring a smooth transition. We have our own PVT numbers and efforts underway that are constantly delivering very reassuring results to us.

We urge parties, observers and Zambian citizens to also be cautious with regard to the running totals of some PVT analyses circulating. For example, in the case of the TIZ results the tallies released so far have disproportionately originated from PF strongholds and may present a distorted picture as a result.

Dipak Patel

UPND Campaign Manager