| Parliament name |
National Assembly |
| Structure of parliament |
Unicameral |
| BACKGROUND |
| Dates of election / renewal (from/to) |
20 September 2011 |
| Purpose of elections |
Elections were held for all the elective seats of the National Assembly on the normal expiry of the members' term of office. |
The 2011 elections were the first to be held under President Rupiah Banda. At stake were 150 directly elected seats in the National Assembly. As in the previous elections, they were held in parallel with the presidential elections.
In the previous elections held in September 2006, President Levy Mwanawasa's Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) took 74 of the 150 directly elected seats. The Patriotic Front (PF) - formed in 2001 by a former MMD member, Mr. Michael Sata - took 43. The United Democratic Alliance (UDA) - an electoral alliance of the United Party for National Development (UPND), the United National Independence Party and the Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) - took 26 seats. The remaining seats went to small parties and independents. President Mwanawasa was re-elected with 43 per cent of the vote and a 14-per cent margin over his closest rival, Mr. Sata (PF). In October, Mr. Mwanawasa was sworn in for a second five-year term.
In August 2008, President Mwanawasa passed away. Snap presidential elections were held in October 2008. Mr. Mwanawasa's deputy, Mr. Rupiah Banda (MMD), was elected with 40 per cent of the vote, narrowly defeating Mr. Sata (PF), who took 38 per cent.
Mr. Banda's presidency saw a commodities boom. Copper prices increased by 250 per cent to US$ 7,000 per tonne, contributing to the country's economic growth of 7 per cent in 2010 and 2011. Despite the economic growth, over 60 per cent of Zambians still live on less than US$ 2 a day.
On 28 July 2011, President Banda dissolved parliament for elections to be held on 20 September. In all, 768 parliamentary and 10 presidential candidates stood in the 2011 elections. Only eight of the 20 parties participating in the parliamentary elections nominated women candidates. In all, 111 women, including 21 independents, contested the parliamentary elections. Parliamentary elections in two constituencies were postponed owing to the deaths of candidates.
President Rupiah Banda's MMD had been in power since 1991. Its main rivals were the PF, led by Mr. Sata, and the UPND of Mr. Hakainde Hichilema. The party leaders were also running for the presidency.
The MMD ran on the government's record, referring in particular to the infrastructure programme to improve the country's road network. In 2008, the government had created a 25 per cent windfall tax on mining companies' profits, but pledged not to do so again. President Banda argued that the MMD was the "legitimate parent of Zambia's democracy".
Both the PF and the UPND criticized the government's decision to scrap the windfall tax and pledged to re-introduce it. PF leader Sata also promised to work for the poor, reduce the size of government and tackle corruption. Mr. Hichilema's UPND pledged to bring about change for a better future of all Zambians by creating more jobs and providing better welfare.
53.98 per cent of the 5.2 million registered voters turned out at the polls.
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission stated that the elections had been conducted in a "conducive environment". It concluded that some of the concerns over the electoral process were pertinent but did not affect the credibility of the overall electoral process.
The final results of the parliamentary elections gave the PF 60 of the 148 confirmed seats, five more than the MMD. The UPND came in third with 28 seats. The remainder went to two small parties, which took one seat each, and three independents. In all, 17 women were elected.
The 2011 presidential elections saw the first power shift since 1991: Mr. Sata (PF) was elected with 43 per cent of the votes, defeating President Banda (MMD), who took 36 per cent. The new President was officially sworn in on 23 September.
On 6 October, the newly elected members were sworn in alongside eight members appointed by the President. They elected Lusaka High Court Judge, Mr. Patrick Matibini as the new Speaker. His candidacy had been submitted by the PF. |
| STATISTICS |
| Voter turnout |
| Round no 1 | 20 September 2011 |
Number of registered electors
Voters
Blank or invalid ballot papers
Valid votes |
5'167'174
2'772'264 (53.65%)
|
|
Notes
|
|
| Distribution of seats |
|
Round no 1
|
| Political Group |
Total
|
Number of women |
|
|
|
| Patriotic Front (PF) |
61
|
8 |
|
|
|
| Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) |
55
|
6 |
|
|
|
| United Party for National Development (UPND) |
29
|
2 |
|
|
|
| Independents |
3
|
0 |
|
|
|
| Alliance for Democracy and Development (ADD) |
1
|
1 |
|
|
|
| Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) |
1
|
0 |
|
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to sex |
Men
Women
Percent of women |
141
17
10.76%
|
| Distribution of seats according to age |
|
|
|
| Distribution of seats according to profession |
|
|
| Comments |
Note on "distribution of seats according to sex"
Seventeen women were directly elected; no women were appointed.
Note on the distribution of seats
The above-mentioned statistics refer to directly elected members. As at 7 October 2011, there were three vacant seats: two in the constituencies where the general elections had been postponed and one seat vacated by an MMD candidate-elect who resigned before being sworn in. Elections to fill these three seats were held on 28 November. Two men candidates - one each from the PF and the UPND - won the differed elections in Magoye and Nakonde constituencies. The number of women elected in the 2011 elections thus remains 17. One woman candidate won the by-election in Chongwe, bringing the total number of women to 18. One independent man member subsequently resigned, leaving one seat vacant. As at 16 January 2012, 18 seats were held by women out of a total 157 seats.
Sources:
National Assembly (05.10.2011, 07.10.2011, 23.12.2011, 16.01.2012, 17.01.2012, 01.01.2014, 01.01.2015)
http://www.elections.org.zm/
http://www.idea.int/vt/countryview.cfm?id=247 |
|
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