Abolish Bye-Elections
By Dickson Jere
We have exactly 10 days to go before the crucial parliamentary by-election in Kabwata. I have always been against by-election. They divert so much resources – human and financial – which can be used elsewhere.
You see, in 2003, I was among those who were appointed by President Levy Mwanawasa to sit on the Mung’omba Constitution Review Commission (CRC) to draft the country’s Constitution. Many petitioners who appeared before us demanded that a system should be developed to take care of vacancies in constituencies as opposed to by-elections. They believed by-elections were not only costly but divisive.
Anyway, my take on this matter at that time and even now is that by-elections should be abolished especially when sitting MP or Councillor dies, resigns, jailed or becomes incapacitated. We should developed a Proportional Representation system for purposes of filling the casual vacancies. One way of doing it is that each party must have candidates for the general elections (First Past the Post System) but also a party list (Proportional Representation) for purposes of filling the vacancies. Simply, the party that held the seat must be allowed to replace their MP via party list – like is case in South Africa. Just submit name of your proposed replacement to Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) who will scrutinise the qualifications and announce the name if meets the criteria. We can then leave by-election for independent candidates or when courts have nullified seats for corruption.
Further, I think it is now ripe for the UPND government to begin reforms of both our Constitution and electoral process. Let us not leave this assignment too late and near the 2026 elections. It will be acrimonious and look political. We need to amend all those articles calling for fresh nominations when some irresponsible candidates chicken out of the race. Time is now for Constitutional amendments…
Goodluck to the participating parties in Kabwata.