Update: Mandevu by-election cancelled as UPND's Banda to be declared MP unopposed; Tonse says it is undemocratic

The 5 November parliamentary by-election in Mandevu constituency, Lusaka, will not take place, and UPND candidate Adrian Banda will be declared duly elected Member of Parliament without a single vote being cast. The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) announced this in a public notice signed by Chief Electoral Officer Brown Kasaro on Friday. The commission said it received letters dated 28 October from the three other candidates, withdrawing from the race with immediate effect. They are Ntazana Musukuma Mutungwa of the Leadership Movement, Daniel Chisenga of the Forum for Democracy and Development, and independent Daniel Daka. The notice cites Regulations 20(3) and 52(2) of the Electoral Process (General) Regulations, 2016, and gives no reasons for the withdrawals. On Friday, Tonse Alliance Secretary General Muhabi Lungu told a press briefing that the by-election should be cancelled and called the sudden withdrawals undemocratic. He asked the ECZ to give the alliance time to identify a new candidate. Mr Lungu said the alliance's candidate, Mr Chisenga, received a call from Lusaka Province Minister Obvious Mwaliteta, in which the minister said he did not want Mr Chisenga to get into trouble. Mr Lungu presented this as evidence of pressure on the candidate. This is an allegation by Tonse Alliance. ## Background The campaign in Mandevu had already been marked by reports of threats and intimidation against some opposition candidates, and Inspector General of Police Graphel Musamba had warned against political violence ahead of the vote. In its notice, the ECZ relied on its regulations to say that, with only one validly nominated candidate left, no poll is needed and that candidate is declared elected. ## Why it matters A by-election decides who speaks for the people of Mandevu in Parliament and who handles the constituency's development money. When the poll is cancelled, residents do not get to choose their MP. The dispute is also about whether the opposition candi