Zambia's election engine steams forward

ARTHUR SIMUCHOBA
Correspondent | Friday July 23, 2010 00:00

All three are critical to next year's election and must be successful for it to be credible.  The voters' register was last updated in 2005 and many have attained the voting age of 18 since then.  It is currently being updated with an emphasis on newly eligible voters in an exercise that started on June 21 and is expected to run for an initial 90 days until the end of next month.  It is being carried out on a mobile basis in all the 150 parliamentary constituencies with the difference this time that those who registered in 2005 do not need to do so again unless they lost their voters' card or have relocated.

The target is to have at least 2.5 million voters on the roll by election time, which is widely expected to be held by October 2011 at the latest. There is a probability that the exercise will be extended beyond the 90-day period depending on how it turns out after the initial period.  So far, the widely publicised exercise is gaining momentum in all parts of the country and actual registration is designed to be quick with no hold ups for those with the requisite documents.

Political parties are also increasingly focusing on the election and it is widely expected that with their mobilisation  the exercise will pick and attain the target.  The initial voters' drive is due to close by August 31 which is also the date on which the final draft of the new constitution is due to be handed over to the  Ministry of Justice for finalisation before being presented to Parliament  for enactment. Unless its life will be extended, the National Constitutional Conference (NCC) which is drawing up the constitution will legally cease to exist as a body on August 21, 2010.  The first draft that is now being circulated was released a day after the commencement of voters' registration.  It is available for public comments and reaction.  

Members of the public have 40 days in which to study the document, debate  the contents and offer 'meaningful' feedback to the NCC. Also published with the draft was the initial report and summary of NCC resolutions. The release of the first draft was welcomed by a consortium of eight non-governmental organisations (NGOs)  which expressed the hope that both the draft and report would go a long  way in uniting Zambians to come up with 'a people-driven constitution that will command their respect'. The NGOs said they would continue to advocate for the adoption of a new constitution on the basis of 'democratic principles'. They called on government to present a complete road map on what will happen after the 40 day deadline for public comments.

The NCC could not initially afford to print enough copies to go round due to a scarcity of funds. But government has recently funded the NCC to enable it to print more  copies of the draft constitution and NCC report, to facilitate meaningful  public comment and so far latest reports are that it is now available  in most district centres.  Initial public reaction has centred on more or less the same contentious issues that were put before the NCC. There are for instance suggestions that the cabinet should be appointed from outside the National Assembly; that the proposed increase in MPs from 150 to 280 is too large for Zambia's economy to support and the  degree requirement for presidential candidates is still under question.

Still, others believe that the whole process was inconclusive as some key questions such as whether the president should be elected by simple majority or by more than half the voters were referred to a national referendum without certainty  about whether the propositions were practical.  

The debate is only beginning to shape up and could get heated. What has been emphasised is that there is unlikely to be any extension to the time allocated for public debate simply because time is running short if the schedule is to be kept.  Whatever happens, it is clear that the critical process that must inform the 2011 election is the National  Census of Population and Housing.   Scheduled for October this year, it is already looming large.

Zambia adheres to the decennial calendar of censuses and holds one at least every 10 years. But the forthcoming one - the fifth in a series since 1969 - is doubly crucial because of the possibility of a national referendum on the constitution, the Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP) for the period 2011-2015, which is currently on the drawing board, and the scheduled election in 2011.  (Sila Press Agency)