Guest article by Uncle Phillip
ARTICLE 52 AND ELECTION DELAYS: WHAT’S THE CONCERN?
President Hakainde Hichilema recently warned that Article 52(6) of the Zambian Constitution could lead to general elections being delayed for several years. This has caused confusion among citizens, raising questions about whether this clause poses a real risk to the democratic process.
What Article 52(6) Says:
Article 52(6) states that if a candidate dies, resigns, or is disqualified after the nomination period but before the election date, the Electoral Commission must cancel the election. New nominations must then be filed, and elections held within 30 days.
The President’s Concern:
The President fears that if this situation occurs repeatedly—such as multiple candidates dying, resigning, or being disqualified—it could lead to ongoing cancellations, potentially delaying elections for an extended period.
Is This Likely?
The scenario described by the President is possible but unlikely. Article 52(6) was meant to ensure fairness by providing a way to restart the election process if something significant happens to a candidate. The clause includes a 30-day timeline for rescheduling elections, suggesting it is designed to minimize delays, not cause them.
Conclusion:
Article 52(6) aims to maintain fair elections, not to delay them indefinitely. While the President’s concern highlights a potential loophole, it does not appear to align with the original intent of this constitutional clause.
So what is the answer? Would it be invoked or not in light of another article in the Constitution assigning a fixed date to hold elections and thereby ignore this provision? That is the point about the need to look at this provision.
And consider possible amendments to the Constitution which the President was talking about.
By the way, dont we have other ways of dealing with candidates that resign, die or are disqualified than having ECZ cancel an election and call for fresh nominations?? It is the responsibility of a sponsoring political party to ensure that their candidate wont resign and if their candidate resigns, then that sponsoring political party should suffer the consequences of not having a candidate for the elective position. This way nominating a candidate will be taken seriously in our multiparty system.
Yes but not when the candidate dies? The sponsoring party can’t be faulted?
But then what if it’s the independent candidates that are resigning or getting themselves disqualified???
Whoever crafted article 52 is not a Zambians!
Indeed, in wrong hands, this bad clause can be abused!
Our constitution is a poorly crafted piece of paper!
Look at the back-and-forth confusion on eligibility!
We have confusion between the so called Constitutional Lawyers changing positions on the same matter that is supposed to be straightforward!
Maybe we should write our constitution in vernacular, maybe it will serve us better!
The Lacunae are real!
If we don’t correct Article 52, we’ll inadvertently gift bad politicians to meddle with the Law whenever they feel like, the same way it was with Bill 10!
Politics aside, our MPs from the opposition should not live in fear of Lacunae!
MPs from both sides of the political divide should argue things intelligently, and the ultimate argument should be about what is good for the nation and not ichipani!