Zambian general election, 2016: Difference between revisions

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==Results==
==Results==
===President===
{| class=wikitable style=text-align:right
!Candidate
!Party
!Votes
!%
|-
|align=left|[[Edgar Lungu]]||align=left|[[Patriotic Front (Zambia)|Patriotic Front]]||17,620||49.98
|-
|align=left|[[Hakainde Hichilema]]||align=left|[[United Party for National Development]]||16,358||46.40
|-
|align=left|[[Tilyenji Kaunda]]||align=left|[[United National Independence Party]]||155||0.40
|-
|align=left|Andyford Banda||align=left|People's Alliance for Change||135||0.38
|-
|align=left|Saviour Chishimba||align=left|[[United Progressive Party (Zambia)|United Progressive Party]]||97||0.28
|-
|align=left|[[Edith Nawakwi]]||align=left|[[Forum for Democracy and Development]]||82||0.23
|-
|align=left|Wynter Kabimba||align=left|[[Rainbow Party (Zambia)|Rainbow Party]]||48||0.14
|-
|align=left|[[Peter Sinkamba]]||align=left|Green Party of Zambia||28||0.08
|-
|align=left|Maxwell Mwamba||align=left|Democratic Assembly||22||0.06
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Invalid/blank votes||707||–
|-
|align=left colspan=2|'''Total'''||'''59,482'''||'''100'''
|-
|align=left colspan=2|Registered voters/turnout||35,252||59.26
|-
|align=left colspan=4|Source: [https://www.elections.org.zm/general_election_2016.php Electoral Commission of Zambia] (3 out of  156 constituencies declared)
|}


==See also==
==See also==

Revision as of 06:16, 13 August 2016

Zambian general election, 2016
Zambia
2015 ←
11 August 2016 → 2021

5,166,088 registered voters[1]
  Edgar Lungu.jpg Hakainde Hichilema 2014.jpg
Nominee Edgar Lungu Hakainde Hichilema
Party PF UPND

Zambia - Location Map (2011) - ZMB - UNOCHA.jpg


Incumbent President

Edgar Lungu
PF



General elections will be held in Zambia on 11 August 2016 to elect the President and National Assembly.[2][3] A constitutional referendum will be held alongside the elections, with proposals to amend the bill of rights and Article 79.[4]

Background

The previous general elections in 2011 resulted in a victory for the Patriotic Front (PF), whose candidate Michael Sata was elected President, with the PF winning 61 of the 150 seats in the National Assembly.[5] Following Sata's death in October 2014, early presidential elections were held to elect a successor to complete the remainder of his five-year term, and PF candidate Edgar Lungu was elected. Edgar Lungu beat Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development by just 27,757 votes and the opposition has yet to accept the credibility of the election.[6]

Electoral system

Although previously the President had been elected in a single round of voting by the first-past-the-post system, in 2015 the National Assembly approved the change in the constitution to change to a two-round system.[7] The constitutional change also introduced the concept of running mates; previously the vice president was appointed after the elections. The running mate, now being an elected member, can assume office directly if the president is deemed unfit to rule.[8]

Of the 159 members of the National Assembly, 150 are elected by the first-past-the-post system in single-member constituencies, with a further eight appointed by the President and a Speaker elected from outside the National Assembly.[9]

The voting age is 18, whilst National Assembly candidates must be at least 21.[10]

Candidates

A total of nine candidates along with their running mates registered to run for the presidency. Out of the 46 political parties, only five managed to pay their candidate's deposit by the deadline of 17 May 2016. The deadline was subsequently extended by a day, with four other parties nominating a candidate.[11]

The race is expected to be a close race mainly between Edgar Lungu of the Patriotic Front and Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Development. Both leaders competed in the 2015 presidential elections and Lungu won by a very narrow margin.[8]

Presidential candidate Running Mate Party
1 Tiyenji Chanda Kaunda Njekwa Ement Anamela United National Independence Party
2 Nawakwi Zewelani Edith Clement Mwanza Forum for Democracy and Development
3 Edgar Lungu Inonge Wina Patriotic Front
4 Saviour Chishimba Sinanzeni Chuma United Progressive Party
5 Wynter Kabimba Cosmas Musumali Rainbow Party
6 Peter Sinkamba Tafeni Clement Green Party
7 Hakainde Hichilema Geoffrey Mwamba United Party for National Development
8 Andyford Banda Enock Tonga People's Alliance for Change
9 Maxwell Mwamba Rosemary Kabungo Democratic Assembly

Violence and incidents

  • Both sides traded accusations of inciting violence for political gain; the ruling Patriotic Front accused the United Party for National Development (UPND), of inciting unnecessary violence, and carrying out its “Operation Watermelon” to create tension in the country. In response, the UPND accused the Patriotic Front of politicising state entities against them.[12]
  • On 10 June, violent outbreaks occurred in Lusaka after the government made the decision to suspend the operations of The Post newspaper (one of the few independent newspapers in the country).[13]
  • On 23 June the government started taking action against The Post for unpaid taxes of around $6 million; the newspaper denied the claim saying the issue was still being discussed in court. The opposition accused the government of silencing the media to reduce their coverage.[14][15]
UPND cadres along Cairo Road as they marched to Chawama.
  • On 8 July, police in Lusaka killed one UPND female supporter after they ambushed a group of supporters that were marching on the Central Business District after Police cancelled a planned rally in Chawama. Mapenzi Chibulu was pronounced dead on arrival at the University Teaching Hospital (UTH) and another male UPND cadre was seriously injured and admitted to UTH.[16]
  • On 9 July, the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) suspended suspended campaigns in Lusaka and Namwala districts for 10 days due to the rise in political violence in some districts which resulted in injury, loss of life and property. During the suspension, there was no public rallies, meetings, processions or door to door campaigns. All branded campaign motor vehicles in Lusaka and Namwala Districts were parked and were not allowed to be used for any purpose. The suspension was lifted on 18 July 2016.[17]
  • On 20 July Geoffrey Bwalya Mwamba, the vice president of the UPND, was arrested along with several party officials with the accusation that they were trying to start a private militia.[18] The police raided his house and found petrol bombs, machetes and spears. The opposition denied the claims that the weapons were planted there after the arrest. The police raided the house following alleged political poster vandals hiding in the house.[19] A total of 28 people were arrested in the raid.[20]

Ballot papers

Ballot boxes for the 2016 Zambia general elections

There was a lot of controversy in the printing of the ballot papers; previously all ballot papers had been printed in South Africa, but the Electoral commission of Zambia awarded the contract for the 2016 elections to a firm in Dubai. The contract was significantly more expensive and many opposition parties criticised the move. Parties opposed the move as printing the ballot papers outside Africa was expensive to verify and increased the chance of electoral fraud.[21] To counter the suspicion of rigging, the Electoral Commission allowed party officials to travel to Dubai to witness the printing of the ballots; all ballot papers were to be only released if all party officials approved of the process.[22] The printing was completed on 20 July 2016 and the ballots were transported to Zambia on 28 July 2016.[23] However, concerns with respect to the transport and distribution of the ballot papers then arose. The Zambian Air Force were responsible for distributing the ballots across the country.[24]

Voting

Some of the polling stations opened at 06hours and closed at 18hour those that opened late where given extra time the last polling station in Nalolo district Namawunga polling station closed at 0200am the following day cause it opened late. The vote turnout was high as went to the polls as early as 02hours waiting for the polling stations to open.

In the western province the first voter arrived at 02hours but had to wait for the Litunga to cast the first vote.

Results

President

Candidate Party Votes %
Edgar Lungu Patriotic Front 17,620 49.98
Hakainde Hichilema United Party for National Development 16,358 46.40
Tilyenji Kaunda United National Independence Party 155 0.40
Andyford Banda People's Alliance for Change 135 0.38
Saviour Chishimba United Progressive Party 97 0.28
Edith Nawakwi Forum for Democracy and Development 82 0.23
Wynter Kabimba Rainbow Party 48 0.14
Peter Sinkamba Green Party of Zambia 28 0.08
Maxwell Mwamba Democratic Assembly 22 0.06
Invalid/blank votes 707
Total 59,482 100
Registered voters/turnout 35,252 59.26
Source: Electoral Commission of Zambia (3 out of 156 constituencies declared)

See also

References

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  1. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  2. Zambia votes in presidential elections BBC News, 20 January 2015
  3. Zambia sets presidential election to August 2016 Al Jazeera, 4 January 2016
  4. Government to hold Referendum along side the 2016 General Elections Lusaka Times, 16 March 2015
  5. Last elections IPU
  6. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  7. Closely fought 2016 election would increase localised violence risks and put pressure on Zambia's austerity plans IHS Jane's 360, 9 December 2015
  8. 8.0 8.1 Expectant mood as Zambians gear for general elections The Herald, 4 July 2016
  9. Republic of Zambia IFES
  10. Electoral system IPU
  11. "Only 5 Parties to take party in the Presidential Elections as Frank Bwalya mocks Eric Chanda", Lusaka Times, 18 May 2016.
  12. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  13. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
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  15. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
  16. Police shoot dead female UPND supporter in Lusaka, LusakaTimes, 9 July 2016
  17. ECZ suspends campaigns in Lusaka and Namwala districts LusakaTimes, 9 July 2016
  18. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
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  22. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).
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  24. Lua error in ...ribunto/includes/engines/LuaCommon/lualib/mwInit.lua at line 23: bad argument #1 to 'old_ipairs' (table expected, got nil).