TIME for politicking is over, says Democratic Governance and Human Rights Advocates (DEGHA) president Gerald Mutelo.
Mr Mutelo said now was the time for hard work and that the opposition political parties should accept defeat and work with the new government to fulfil the visions and aspirations of Zambians.
He said his organisation saluted Peter Sinkamba of the Green party and Miles Sampa of the United Democratic Front (UDF) for accepting defeat because that was how democracy worked.
Mr Mutelo said the decision of the voters must be respected and no one should be victimised for voting for somebody or for belonging to a particular region or being part of a different political party.
“We can’t all have same political beliefs because that will not be democracy; therefore political parties should accept the final results of the elections and reflect on how they performed by engaging the voters so that they can understand why the electorate did not vote for them,” said Mr Mutelo
He said the country needed to promote the One Zambia One Nation spirit because democracy was about differing in opinions through discussions and elections, not violence.
He said there was too much violence recorded in the last general elections and there was therefore need for all political parties to address the issue instead of pointing fingers at each other while all of the them had at one point engaged themselves in violent activities.
Mr Mutelo said President Edgar Lungu who was the father of the nation was expected to unite Zambia by promoting peace, unity and oneness.
“We salute the President for appointing former president Rupiah Banda to represent him at the ‘kusefya pa ng’wena’ traditional ceremony held in Kasama because we need to respect our former presidents by giving them opportunities to represent the country both at home and abroad,” said Mr Mutelo.