CSEC Report on Zambia's 2011 Tripartite Elections

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CSEC Report on Zambia's 2011 Tripartite Elections CIVIL SOCIETY ELECTION COALITION (CSEC) 2011 CSEC Report on Zambia’s 2011 Tripartite Elections 20 September 2011 December 2011 CSEC Secretariat, c/o Caritas Zambia Plot 60 Kabulonga Road P. O. Box 31965, Lusaka Zambia ‘CSEC: Promoting transparent and credible elections through monitoring all stages of the 2011 electoral process in Zambia’ 1 FOREWORD Civil society in Zambia has a long history of contributinG to the democratic process throuGh a number of activities carried out by individual orGanisations. As the civil society in the country Geared up to be part of Zambia’s 2011 tripartite elections, the idea and viability of coming up with a coordinated and structured coalition such as CSEC 2011 was unforeseen until about May 2011. Eight (8) civil society orGanizations came toGether, believing in their unique capacities but also acknowledging the Great enerGy that would be realised if the orGanisations worked toGether. CSEC thus provided a unique experience of election monitoring. The CSEC experience has Gave the participatinG civil society orGanisations an opportunity to learn many lessons from the challenges and successes of working for a common purpose in a coalition. While the challenges that CSEC faced (limited time, limited resources and varying orGanisational cultures) made it a not so easy task, such challenges were not insurmountable. It was remarkable thouGh to note that partner orGanizations remained committed to the cause and hence the achievements that were realised by the coalition. For instance the contribution made to Zambia’s 2011 elections by CSEC’s Rapid Response Project (RRP) was just phenomenal. Amidst harassment, threats and denunciations arisinG from an ill informed debate on Parallel Vote Tabulation (PVT), CSEC was able to verify official election results using RRP as alternative concept to PVT. The 2011 tripartite elections were not only important for Zambia but for the entire Southern African region. The elections have become a Good practice for peaceful elections, wide stakeholder participation and peaceful transfer of power. CSEC did a comparative analysis of the RRP and ECZ final election results and the outcome showed consistency between the two. It is our belief that our involvement as civil society Gave confidence and inteGrity to the process. Now that elections are behind us, we should continue to use our strengths and press for the improvements in our electoral process especially as we anticipate the pending constitutional reforms. The lack of movement in constitutional reforms has consequently impeded proGress in electoral reforms and as a country we should seize the opportunity of constitutional reforms to strengthen the leGal framework for our elections. This CSEC 2011 Election MonitorinG Report provides a detailed account of the critical findings that CSEC noted during its monitorinG effort. Salient, among these were that:- · during the pre-Election Day period the Electoral Commission of Zambia endeavoured to provide a conducive environment by being inclusive and consultative to all stakeholders; · media coveraGe of competing political parties and candidates failed to adhere to the Electoral (Code of Conduct) ReGulations; · freedom of an individual to run for public office throuGh adoptions in most political parties was constrained by lack intra party democracy in almost all our political parties. All political parties failed to deliberately demonstrate a commitment to the promotion of women, youth and people living with disability participation; · durinG Election Day, it was observed that most polling stations commenced votinG in official time; secrecy of the vote was larGely enhanced, and availability of election materials was significantly suitable for the conduct of an election. CSEC-2011 notes that the Electoral Commission of Zambia’s is yet to realise its independence, Given the numerous incidents that occurred which could act to undermine election inteGrity. We recommend that the Current Constitutional Reforms embraces this critical inadequacy by reviewing the existing centralised executive functioninG of the Commission. The possibility of decentralising the commission and Giving it resource autonomy must be explored. CSEC – ‘ZAMBIA’S 2011 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS REPORT’ 2 It is our hope that stakeholders will find this report educative and informative. We call upon all concerned stakeholders to take note of the critical observations made and act upon them. I wish, on behalf of the CSEC steering committee, to extend our sincere Gratitude to all the monitors, supervisory staff, CSEC personnel and all people of Goodwill for a job well done. We are also Grateful to the donor community and National Democratic Institute (NDI) for partnerinG with CSEC. We also wish to thank the Electoral Commission of Zambia, the media, the Zambia Police, Anti-Corruption Commission and other stakeholders who in many ways contributed in makinG our work as CSEC much liGhter. Sam Mulafulafu CSEC CHAIRPERSON December 2011 CSEC – ‘ZAMBIA’S 2011 TRIPARTITE ELECTIONS REPORT’ 3 FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................................................ 1 LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES ..................................................................................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ................................................................................................................................................................. 7 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................................................................................... 9 ACRONYMS ............................................................................................................................................................................... 10 1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................................... 12 1.1 OVERVIEW ON DEMOCRACY AND ELECTIONS......................................................................................................... 12 1.2 THE 2011 ELECTIONS REPORT ............................................................................................................................. 12 2 COUNTRY CONTEXT .................................................................................................................................................... 14 2.1 A SOCIO-ECONOMIC BRIEF .................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2 POLITICS AND ELECTIONS IN ZAMBIA................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.1 The Period 1991 to 2000 ................................................................................................................................... 14 2.2.2 The Period 2001 to 2011 ................................................................................................................................... 19 2.4 RETROSPECT .......................................................................................................................................................... 23 3 LEGAL FRAMEWORKS FOR ELECTIONS IN ZAMBIA ................................................................................................. 24 3.1 OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................................................. 24 3.2 LEGAL FRAMEWORKS ............................................................................................................................................ 24 3.2.1 Constitution of Zambia Act ............................................................................................................................... 24 3.2.2 Electoral Act No. 12 of 2006.............................................................................................................................. 25 3.2.3 The Electoral Commission Act ........................................................................................................................... 26 3.2.4 The Electoral (Code of Conduct) Regulations, 2011 .......................................................................................... 26 3.2.5 Local Government Act and Local Government Elections Act 1994..................................................................... 28 3.2.6 Public Order Act, No. 1 of 1996 ......................................................................................................................... 28 3.2.7 Anti-Corruption Act .......................................................................................................................................... 28 3.3 ZAMBIA’S ELECTORAL SYSTEM ............................................................................................................................ 28 3.4 CONSTITUTIONAL AND ELECTORAL REFORMS ....................................................................................................... 28 3.4.1 Constitutional Reforms ..................................................................................................................................... 28 3.4.2 Electoral Reforms ............................................................................................................................................
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